The Gifted
by Kono Mayotteru Hoshi
Summary: When Sakura is offered to be a whore by her mother, and refuses, she is saved by a young woman who takes her to a school for The Gifted. But once you go to school there, you can never leave. HorixOC AU Rated for violence and adult situations
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer-**I do not own any part of Fushigi Yugi. 

**Authors Note-**Okay, warning, this is a lot darker and a lot more violent than my other fics, but I think it's a lot better written. And if you like ths fic, go check out Silver Pain's Cursed. Enjoy, and please read and review. And thank you Shizuka Kage and Silver Pain for your help.  
This is now the edited version of Chapter One. I am trying to edit all of my chapters because I missed a few typos and grammitical and spelling errors. I am still writing Chapter Nine and starting to type it, I hope to get it up as soon as possible.

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Chapter One

The alarm clock rang and Sakura reached over to turn it off. She rolled out of bed thinking _'Another long day of torture.'_ She walked over to her closet and found her school uniform easily because all of her other clothing was black. She then brushed her waist length black wavy hair and put on black eyeliner and out lined her slightly almond shaped violet eyes with it. Then she looked in the mirror and sighed, she hated her appearance.

Sakura went into the kitchen which as usual was empty. Her father was gone, left them 13 years ago, her mother not caring. She had been on her own since she was 6. She quickly made her lunch, put it in her school bag and walked outside.

Sakura walked to school everyday, rain or shine. It was a long walk but she always arrived with time to go to her locker and go to class on time. But school was a nightmare for Sakura. She was in high school and everyone was more immature than ever. In classes, she was teased especially about her violet colored eyes which no one else seemed to have. They pulled her hair, stole her belongings, and ripped her papers. In the hallways she was ignored completely. People bumped into her with out saying sorry, she was pushed up against the walls, and she would get squished trying to get past two people.

The day passed slowly with nothing new happening and Sakura once again walked back home to an empty house. She opened the door and went immediately to her room to change. She put on loose black bondage pants that barely stayed on her hips they were so big and a tight v-neck black shirt. She then darkened her eyeliner.

She got her books from her bag and sat at the kitchen table. She worked on her homework and ended up falling asleep on the table. She woke up to her mother's voice screaming her name.

"Sakura! Sakura! What the hell girl! I told you to make dinner," she yelled and hit her on the head.

Sakura blinked and lifted up her head. She looked up at her mother, expecting another blow.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get the dinner started and we have a guest."

Sakura nodded and started to clean her books and notebooks off the table. Her mother went back into the other room with their guest. It was probably another guy who would be spending the night, and there was a different on almost every night. She sighed with shame, and put the pan on the stove and turned on the fire on. She put some left over rice, chicken, and onions in the pan. While it was warming up she set the table for three, although she would rather not eat with them, she had to. She put a pitcher of cold water on the table along with three glasses.

She went to go get her mother and the guest in living room. When Sakura walked into the room, her mother was on top of him and they were making out. Sakura flushed and tapped her mother on the shoulder.

"It's ready then?"

Sakura nodded and her mother led the man into the kitchen and Sakura followed, dragging her feet, dreading to go into the kitchen. If this man was like the others, he would pinch her and grab her, while her mother watched calmly, eating her dinner. And if Sakura spoke out, told him to leave her be, her mother would lock her in …; Sakura shivered just thinking about it.

Sakura got down plates, and served the man first. She felt his eyes upon her face but she was determined to ignore him. She heard him ask who she was as she moved on to serve her mother.

"Oh, that. She is just my daughter Sakura. She doesn't matter though. She never speaks either, most times I think she is just too stupid to form a sentence," she answered as Sakura served her.

She then felt a big hand on her lower back. When she didn't protest he slid his hand down to her back side. Sakura moved away from him and his hand to go serve herself. After she served herself she put the pan back on the stove and composed herself to put the blank look back on her face.

She sat back down and waited for her mother and her guest to take the first bites. After they did, Sakura picked up her chopsticks and kept her eyes on her plate. She listened to their conversation though.

"Her name is Sakura did you say?" he asked her mother.

Her mother nodded, and he chuckled.

"She is pretty enough, I suppose. And her body figure isn't bad either. Her eye color is a bit odd though. She'd catch a fair price, and the place is always needs more whores," he said eyeing her greedily.

Sakura looked up at him startled, her violet eyes wide with surprise. This man owned a whore house, a brothel, and her mother was going to fuck him. Then, did that…was her mother a whore? She had a respectful job once, when Sakura was younger. But the grief of her husband leaving her left her in shock and pain. She turned to drugs and alcohol to ease her pain, and because of that she had lost her job. After that Sakura didn't know what her mother's occupation was, but she had managed to keep their apartment so there was some sort of income.

Sakura had never really wanted to know what her mother did but…, fucking a man who owned a brothel, was a pimp; did that make her mother a whore? She really wasn't sure. Sakura looked down at her plate again.

"What do you think Arisa?"

Sakura looked up at him her eyes wider than before with shock and blushed.

"Eh…I don't care what you do with her. She's useless. The only things she is good for is doing work around the house and cooking my dinner."

Sakura looked at her mother not believing what her mother was saying. She should have known her mother would say that though, it was just like her to say stuff like that. But Sakura knew that she wasn't loved by her mother, but she never thought that she would be given off to whoredom.

"She might be a bit shy though. Nothing a couple of good fucks can't cure," he said matter of factly.

He laughed heartily at the horrified look on her face. She would never fuck a man, especially a horny old man. Make love, maybe, if she could ever find a guy who was decent looking and not an asshole who loved her and she loved him back; but fuck, never. But he didn't stop there.

"I know a couple of guys that would love to break her in the first couple of times. She is a virgin, right?"

When Arisa shrugged he turned to Sakura.

"Are you a virgin?"

Sakura looked at him like he was crazy, disbelief on every inch of her face. Who the hell did this guy think he was? It was none of his business if she was a virgin or not. He looked at her, as if inspecting her.

"I'll take that as a yes, and with your permission Arisa, I can change that tonight. I'll have someone come over-"

"No thank you," Sakura said quietly.

"What did you say!" her mother said harshly.

"No thank you," Sakura said again not much louder.

"You stupid bitch," Arisa said as she backhanded Sakura across the cheek. The blow was unexpected so Sakura fell to the floor cradling her cheek.

"For that, yes, call someone over; someone to break her, someone to teach her a lesson. Although tell him to come in an about two hours," Arisa said standing up glaring down at her daughter, whom had just looked fearfully up at her mother.

"Excellent. Sounds great, where's the phone so I can call him?"

Arisa pointed, and he walked over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed. Arisa advanced on her daughter still on the floor. Sakura was still looking fearfully up at her mother, dreading what would happen next. Sakura looked down and blinked hoping it was all just a bad dream. Arisa grabbed a fist full of Sakura's hair and pulled so that she was forced to look at her.

"You ungrateful bitch!" she screamed, "How dare you refuse his kind offer! First you don't make dinner, and then you move away from him, and now this!"

She backhanded Sakura again.

"In you go," she said sadistically and a smirk appeared on her face. Sakura's eyes filled with fear. Arisa ignored her daughter's silent pleas and pulled her to her feet by the fist full of hair.

Sakura's scalp felt like it was on fire as she was pulled to her feet. She took in deep breath through her nose to keep her from screaming out in pain. Her mother pulled Sakura toward it, Sakura stumbled, and her mother yanked her hair to keep her on her feet. Sakura felt some of the hair being ripped from her scalp. When they reached it Sakura's scalp was screaming in agony. Her mother threw open the door and threw Sakura in. She slammed the door and Sakura hit the wall and crumpled to the floor. She heard the lock turn and her mother walk away from the door.

Sakura slid herself into a corner, brought her knees up and hugged them to her chest. She cried silently into her knees because of her cheek and scalp screaming with pain.

Soon after she stopped crying the reality of being there sunk in. Sakura felt the walls slowly close in on her. She started hyperventilating and hugged her knees closer so the walls wouldn't close in around her as fast. But they did, they pressed in on her, she couldn't stop hyperventilating and the darkness took her.

* * *

Sakura awoke to more darkness the walls still perilously close. She sat in there, in the dark silence, the air getting stale. She wished the door would open, giving her fresh air, light, space and a somewhat freedom. Then she remembered what fate awaited her once the door was opened. When it was opened she was be raped by a man she didn't know, and would probably never see again in her whole life.

Sakura wanted the door to open, but she also dreaded it opening. Now she was confused, how can you want something to happen but dread it happening at the same time? She was in the dark silence contemplating which was worse, the door opening or the door staying locked and closed. But when the dreaded moment came she decided that she would rather keep her virginity and have the door locked and closed.

Her mother banged on the closed door. She unlocked the door and it swung open. Sakura looked up at her and blinked a few times.

"Stupid bitch, get the hell up," she said irritably and pulled her daughter up by another fist of hair.

Once Sakura was on her feet however, her mother grabbed a wrist and pulled Sakura towards her bedroom. Sakura was pushed into her bedroom and the door slammed behind her.

The man who stood in her room turned around and looked at Sakura. His eyes took her in and soon the expression of lust was on his face. Sakura thought he was maybe 20 and might have been good looking if he wasn't about to rape her. He leered at her a bit more then without a warning he crashed his lips on her and he forced his tongue into her mouth. She pulled away from him.

"Hmm, going to be difficult are you? That's fine with me, I'll just have to be rough," he said viciously and closed the space between them quickly.

He grabbed Sakura's wrists and flung her onto the bed. Before she could try to get up, he was on top of her, pinning her wrists out and down to the bed. He at once crashed his lips to hers again and forced his tongue inside her mouth. She turned away, ripping her mouth from hers. He didn't look discouraged, instead he how kissed her and sucked at her neck. She tried to move but he was crushing her and too heavy for her.

She was still squirming trying everything to get out from underneath him. He then brought her wrists above her head and pinned them there with one hand. Sakura could now feel his arousal between her legs, pressed up against her. With his now free hand he grabbed her breast and squeezed it hard. She screamed in pain. Then he worked off her shirt and got it over her head. He slipped it her arms off without letting go of her wrists.

Suddenly an idea hit her and she stopped struggling. He looked at her and let go of her wrists slightly, when she didn't struggle he let go of them completely. Then he took a little weight off her and propped himself up with his elbows. When she still didn't move he got up, and took his shirt off, followed by his pants. When he began to slip off his boxers Sakura gave him a swift hard kick to his groin; he dropped to his knees bent over. Sakura ran to the door, swung it open and bolted to the door.

She opened the door and slammed it shut; Sakura bolted down the stairs and ran through the final set of doors. She ran down the street wheezing, her legs were now cramping but she couldn't stop, he would come to find her. Luckily the street was empty for she had left her shirt in her room.

She slowed down to a fast walk when her lungs were starting to give up on her. Then a mysterious black car rolled up next to her. The back passenger window rolled down. A lady with dark hair and dark eyes sat in the car alone.

"Sakura?"

Sakura nodded slowly.

"Get in the car," the mysterious woman said.

"Why?"

"I'll explain later."

"No, sorry," Sakura said and began to turn away but then heard the scream of a man.

"Sakura! You bitch! Get the hell back here!"

He had found her. Sakura looked around frantically around for an escape route.

"Sakura; get in the car. You don't want that young man to find you do you?" the woman asked and nodded towards him.

Sakura glanced back at him and then opened the door of the car and, she got in, closed the door. The car drove off silently into the night.

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**Authors Note-**I hope everyone enjoyed that, and don't forget to review! 


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer-**I don't own Fushigi Yugi. 

**Author's Note**-Wow, I got this chapter up a lot sooner than I thoght. I am very happy with myself. And don't forget to read The Cursed by Silver Pain. And thanks again to Silver, Kage, and Allegra.  
This chapter is also edited now.

* * *

Chapter Two

Six girls were sitting in the common room of the girl's dormitories waiting for the arrival of the new girl.

"I wonder was her personality is," an orange-blonde haired girl with blue eyes said.

"She can't be worse than Miaka, Rika," said an older girl with reddish brown hair said.

"That's not very nice Soi," said Rika.

"Come on Rika!" Rika's twin Ayla complained, "Stop sticking up for her, she's a nightmare."

"It's her voice that bugs me," said Danieru a girl with black hair and green eyes.

"I wonder how the hell she managed to get a boyfriend already. And she's been here for barely a week," Soi complained.

"It's not like anyone else likes the miser. He's almost more annoying than Miaka. But it is funny when he goes diving on the floor for a coin that's not even there," said Aya, who had short light brown hair and grey eyes.

"So true," said Megumi a girl with red and silver eyes said.

"Personally I think they way they are always together and the way he's so protective of her is revolting. It's like she has a breakdown when he's not in the same room as her," Aya complained.

"Oh, stop. And Aya, how do you expect to get a boyfriend with that attitude, you find any show of emotion revolting," said Rika.

Aya blushed. The six girls laughed and went back to discussing the new girl when, Yui and Miaka walked into the room.

"I wonder what she looks like," said Aya.

"More importantly," said the white haired grey eyed Subaru, "Is group she'll be in,"

"Well, Emika said only four Byakko warriors were found and none of Genbu. Almost all of Suzaku and Seiryu have been found," said Danieru.

"Who's her room mate anyway?" asked Soi.

"I am," said Megumi, "Emika told me."

The room fell silent. They had been assigned no homework for the night because of the fact that there was a new girl coming to the school.

"I'm hungry," whined an unbearably high voice.

Six pairs of eyes at the green eyed brown haired Miaka.

"There's some news," said Ayla sarcastically, "You're _never_ hungry."

"We had dinner barely an hour ago," Subaru said gently.

"But I'm still hungry," whined Miaka again.

"You had almost everything on our table; we barely got enough to fill _our_ stomachs!" Soi said in a raised voice.

"Miaka stop complaining," said the blonde haired blue eyed Yui.

"I can't help it," Miaka whined again trying to defend herself.

Danieru clenched her teeth at the sound of her voice and Megumi, Soi, Aya, and Ayla glared. Yui, Subaru, and Rika sighed.

"By the way, the room mate assignments have changed; me and the new girl, Aya and Soi, Yui and Miaka, and Ayla and Rika. Subaru and Danieru," Megumi said.

"Sounds good," said Soi.

"Nothing really changed," Subaru said.

"Yea, I mean Soi and Subaru pretty much changed places," Aya noticed.

"I don't understand why Emika does that. Everybody pretty much has the same room mate all the time, she just switches the rooms around," complained Rika.

"It's so pointless!" exclaimed her twin.

"I know what you mean," said Megumi.

A few moments passed in silence. The girls sighted and shifted in the couches, chairs, and love seats.

"I hate waiting," Aya said suddenly, "It's so boring."

"Me too," Ayla said.

"I really want her to come," Megumi complained, "I promised Nuriko I would meet him and Hotohori with her. I can't wait much longer; I really want to see him."

"Oh, so you guys finally got together," Rika said.

"Yea," Megumi said blushing.

"That's so cute," Miaka said.

"Thanks," Megumi said rolling her eyes at Miaka, and then asked, "Well how are everyone else's relationships going?"

"Tamahome and I are doing great! He's so great and so hot! But Yui is hanging out with us all the time. Not that I mind, she's my best friend!"

"Miaka, it's ok, I can hang out with someone else," Yui said blushing.

"But you don't have anyone else to hang out with!"

"Are you saying are can't make friends!" Yui said in a raised voice.

"No," Miaka said meekly.

"Alright. Well I don't really like anyone. So I'm not with anyone right now," Yui said.

"Tokaki and I are doing wonderful," Subaru said smiling fondly.

"Well," Aya said blushing, "Tatara and I just got together the other day."

"So that's where you were, I was looking for you and I couldn't find you. I was wondering where you were," Soi said.

Aya blushed in response but then said, "Shut up! Don't bug me about it!"

"We won't," Soi laughed, "But to answer your question Megumi, everything with Nakago is going well."

"Amiboshi and I are doing great. He's great," Rika said blushing, "I really like him, I think I love him."

"Tasuki and I are hanging out a lot. We're becoming really close friends. I like him but I don't think he likes me," Danieru said glumly.

"Don't worry about it," Ayla told her, "Tasuki is a good guy; he'll come around and figure it out eventually."

"Thanks," Danieru smiled."

"No problem," Ayla said, "Anytime. But Suboshi and I are doing well."

"I think it's so funny that the twins are going out with the twins," Yui said chucking.

"Me too," Soi said.

"I think it's cute," Danieru said.

"I wonder what the guys are gonna think of her, the new girl. I wonder which guy she'll end up dating," said Rika.

"Well, who's free?" asked Miaka.

"Umm, in Suzaku, Tasuki-," Danieru began.

"You and Tasuki are close enough friends to say that he's taken. Besides I think he's just shy about girls," Ayla said firmly, "Continue."

"Thanks," Danieru smiled, "Kay, Hotohori, Chichiri, Mitsukake, and Chiriko. But Chiriko is a bit young,"

"And no one in Byakko is free," said Aya.

"And in Seiryu Ashitare, never, Miboshi, doubtful, and Tomo," said Soi.

"Most likely Hotohori, although his narcissism might get a bit annoying, he would probably say 'You are so pretty but never as beautiful as us.' And Mitsukake, Chichiri, Chiriko, Tomo are free too," said Ayla.

"Only time will tell," Subaru said calmly.

"Let's stop talking about her. It's only making the wait worse," Rika said.

"What else is there to talk about?" Ayla asked.

"I don't know but there has to be something else and better. It makes the wait longer, and you said you hate waiting," her twin answered.

"Then you find something to talk about," Ayla said raising her voice.

"You're impossible Ayla," Rika said calmly.

"So are you!" Ayla said yelling.

Megumi, Danieru, Miaka, Yui, Soi, and Subaru rolled their eyes. Rika and Ayla were always fighting.

"Do you two every shut up!" Aya yelled over Ayla.

Ayla stood up and Aya followed.

"No! Do you have a problem with that?" Ayla yelled angrily at Aya.

"Yes, I do have a problem with that!"

"Well, that's just too bad for you!"

"Will you two shut up!" Soi yelled standing up.

"No! Ayla and Aya yelled back at Soi.

"You two are giving me a headache!" Soi yelled.

"Too bad for you," Aya said and turned back to Ayla.

Subaru stood up and said in a quiet commanding voice, "Shut up and sit down, all three of you. I think I hear a car outside."

The three girls glared at Subaru but said down. And sure enough outside they could hear the crunching of tires and car doors slamming. Foot steps could be heard as two people approached. The door opened and a black haired, purple eyed girl walked in followed by Emika.

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**Author's Note-**Kay, people, read and review. And who do you think Yui should be with. Nakago and Suboshi are already taken.


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer-**I do not own Fushigi Yugi. I do own all of the ocs.

**A/N-**Well, I finally finished this chapter. I was in Vermont for a week so I would have updated it sooner. That means I also have part of Chapter Four written. I'll update the next chapter before the August the 6th because I'm going on vaction (groans I hate going on vacation with my family). So I hope write Chapter Five written during vacation. We'll see tho. Thanks again to Silver for offering to help me with the evil writers block. Also go read Silver Pain's fic, Cursed. It's really good. And the next chapter and on, I'm going to have a Profile for each oc, one profile iwth each chapter.

**Reader Responce  
MiLeggie-**Yea, how do you like your character. Did I portray her correctly? Was there too many characters? Is that bad? Thanks.  
**Silver Pain-**Thanks, I'm glad ou liked it. Yea, you're my room mate because you are the first one to give me their profile. And the first person I talked to about this fic. Isn't that list great, when I first read it I died of laughter. You shall see what groups we all are in. And its ok, cuz I think I scared you in a few of my reviews, you wouldn't scare me.  
**Shizuka-kage-**You were confused? I'm sorry I never sent you that email. I will eventually tho. So yea, how were the Kenshin pics?  
**XxMidnghtRosesxX-**Thanks, you'll be in there eventaully, lol. Yea, I was hoping it they would do that.  
**Eyesofacidrain-**Lol, yea, can you tell that I hate her? Yea, Sakura is going to end up with Hotohori. How did you guess? Yea, it was dark. I don't think that the rest of the fic is going to be that dark tho. This is definatly one of my darker fics tho. And it wasn't really hard to write, it just kinda flowed into my hand.

* * *

Chapter Three

Sakura turned around and watched him become smaller and smaller in the rear window, until they turned the corner and she could no longer see him. She turned around to face forward so she could find out where she was going and who the dark haired woman was.

"Sakura thank you for coming quietly and quickly with us. My name is Emika. I am the head of the girls' dormitories at an Institute for the Paranormally Gifted," said.

"What? Paranormally gifted? _I'm_ paranormally gifted?" Sakura asked in disbelieving quiet voice.

"Yes. You are paranormally gifted. I'm taking you to an institute with other teenagers such as yourself. You will of course continue your school studies but there will be classes to teach you how to control your gift or gifts and how to use it offensively and defensively."

"I can't be paranormally gifted. Not me."

"You are. We're not sure what gift or gifts you have. But that's easy enough to figure out. Just give it some time. We have a room and bad all ready for you and your room mate says she can't wait to meet you."

"What about my home, my school?"

"Do you really want to go back to a home where your mother doesn't care about you? As for your school, it's like you've never even step foot in there. All your records there are deleted; you now go to school at the institute. And tomorrow is any one going to be home?"

"No one is ever home, except for me"

"Good, good. We have to go get some of your belongings tomorrow then. You will need clothes for the weekends and trips we are thinking of taking. We have uniforms to give you for the weekdays and classes."

"Why are you taking me? I didn't know I had special abilities or I was gifted before you told me. I could have stayed home and never known."

"We took you now and didn't wait because your abilities would have surfaced in a few months any way. And my colleagues and I think that if the government finds out about your abilities and there could be two results. One, they will kill you all out of fear and ignorance. Two, they would force you all to work for the government and of course that would mean being some sort of secret weapon against the rest of the world. So we decided we would find out and educate you about your abilities."

"I see," Sakura said quietly. She was surprised that the Japanese government did not already know her or the other gifted. She wondered what the other girls would were like and if she would like the school.

Emika watched Sakura. The other girls had been demanding questions about the school and asked or rather yelled at her their many questions. But this girl's voice barely raised her voice above a whisper. Was she always this quiet and shy? But Emika had enough experience with the girls to know that Sakura has many unasked questions about the school.

"I suppose you are wondering about the school," Emika said.

Sakura looked at her, turned her head to look down at her lap and nodded.

"Like I said before, I'm the head of the girl's dormitories; if you have any questions, problems, or need any thing you can come to me. And there are nine girls including you."

Sakura was now looking at Emika out of the corner of her eyes and looking straight ahead but her face still tilted down.

"The students are split up into four different groups named after the four beast gods of ancient times. They are Suzaku the phoenix, Seiryu, the dragon, Byakko, the white tiger, and Genbu the turtle and snake entwined. We have not found any Genbu students though.

"Your room mate's name is Megumi. She will show you around the grounds tonight and the school tomorrow; and will introduce you to the other students. She will also lend you pajamas for tonight. I will give you your uniform tomorrow morning. As for you classes you have academics in the morning. Lunch of an hour at noon until 1 o'clock then ability classes, defensive the first half and offensive the second half. Dinner is served from 7 to 8. Free time until 9:30, you will have to be in your rooms by 9:30 with only your room mate with you and lights out at 10 o'clock. On the weekends you can sleep late and have free time until 1 o' clock and then you will follow your weekday schedule from 1 and on. Understand?"

Sakura nodded.

"When we get there I will introduce you to the other girls and the Megumi will show you around and explain everything to you more."

Sakura nodded again.

"Do you want to know any ting else?" Emika asked unnerved by her silence and straight face that hasn't left her face.

Sakura shook her had and said quietly "No ma'am, thank you."

"Alright then, I'm done talking about the school. It there anything I should know about you or your family?"

"No ma'am," Sakura said still every quiet.

"Alright. Enjoy the rest of the ride then. We'll be there in about half an hour to 45 minutes."

Sakura nodded again and looked out of her window. She thought about the changes; her old home and her new one. _'I wonder what my room mate's personality is, if she was nice and understanding or nasty and bitter. What did she look like? How other students were there any way? Will they except me or be as mean as the girls were at my old school? Will they be nice in front of a teacher or an adult and mean when they weren't looking?'_

_'And the guys, would they be the kind of guys that had stolen her first kiss and tried to rape her' _Sakura gasped quietly, she had just realized that he had stolen her first kiss._ 'I had always imagined my first kiss would be on my first date. But it was stolen by some bastard who had tried to rape me. I hadn't wanted it, and didn't participate in it but I'm quite sure that it counted as a first kiss. His fucking tongue was in my mouth for god sakes. If every kiss is like that, I'm not sure that I want to be kissed again. I always looked forward to getting my first kiss, I thought it would be enjoyable, and feel good, but I guess not. I don't think I want to be kissed again.' _She suddenly felt very dirty and she wanted to take a shower and brush her teeth. She doubted that would happen any time soon though. Miss. Emika's list didn't have time for a shower and brushing teeth. It sounded like she would be very busy as soon as she got the school.

_'Back to the school,' Sakura thought, 'for the paranormally gifted. If I have a gift or gifts why the fuck didn't they appear when he was attacking me and attempting rape? Where the hell were they! This is all very frustrating. I am just an ordinary almost whore on the run, I have no fucking gifts or abilities or powers, none what so ever. They'll see that soon enough and probably dump me out on the street or worse, bring me back home, What is to become of me?'_

Emika watched Sakura out of the corner of her eyes. Sakura had a thoughtful expression on her face and what looked like a few tears slipped down her cheeks. The girl was a quiet introvert. There were no other girls like that at the school. Emika hoped that she would get along with the other girls and hoped Megumi was up to breaking down the defenses that Sakura had built up so high. Emika watched her some more, and Sakura shed a few more tears. What had happened to her, why is she so introverted, so quiet and shy? She would try to find out.

"Sakura?" Emika asked nicely then placed a hand on her arm. Sakura flinched as if she was going to get hit as soon as she felt Emika's hand. She looked up at Emika almost fearfully.

"Sakura, it's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Sakura looked doubtful.

"Do you need to talk?"

Sakura gulped and said "No ma'am. I don't need to talk. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I might want to talk about why you were being chased by a young man without a shirt on or why you were crying. It seems very overwhelming. Or even about the school."

"Crying, ma'am? I wasn't crying. My eyes were watering."

"Well, when you are ready to talk about it, I'll listen. And if you don't trust me or don't want to talk about it to me, then talk to one of the other girls. I suggest Megumi, Rika, Subaru, or Danieru."

Sakura was silent, and she looked back down at her lap with a curtain of black hair to hide her face. _'I was crying!'_ thought Sakura, _'Shit! I need to get my emotions back in check. What's wrong with me, I never let my emotions show. I have one unreadable face, yes I blush but I still have that one face on.'_

A little later the car pulled up to a very large stone wall and black steel gates. Sakura looked up when she noticed they stopped. The driver's window rolled down and Emika passed the driver a piece of paper with a security code on it. He punched the code on a keypad. The gates slowly opened. They drove in and the window rolled back up. The gates closed behind them and Sakura saw a large brick building.

"That's the school," Emika pointed out, "behind it is the dormitories. Behind them there are the grounds. We also have quite a few gardens and green house."

Sakura looked out at her new home. They pulled up to one of the dormitories and Emika opened her door.

"Come on Sakura. These are the girl's dormitories," Emika said.

Sakura opened her door and followed Emika to the door. Emika opened the door and motioned for Sakura to go first. She walked in the door and saw either girls sitting in arm chairs, love seats and a couch.

* * *

**A/N-**Yes, another cliff hanger. What would my fics be with out my cliff hangers. And since almost no one answer my question from last chapter, again, Who should Yui have as a boyfriend? And I had another question, but I forgot it. Very upsetting. starts banging head on desk Kay, not remembering. I guess I'll write it down if I remember it and then ask it to you guys in the next chapter. Kay, don't forget to review. When I get review it makes me feel loved and specail. So pretty please review.


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer-**I do not own Fushigi Yugi.

**A/n-**Well I did this last minute because my friends invited me to an Amustment Park. It is going to have a lot of typos in it, I'm sooooo sorry. But I am leaving for ten days on a vacation with my family that I don't want to go on. Ehhhhh, I really don't want to go. So I will write Chapter Five during a vacation and update when I get back. Maybe if you giuys are lucky I will be able to write two out of my bordem. I doubt it though. And this is a longer chapter than usual, be happy dear readers!

**Reader Responce  
XxMidnightRosesxX-**Yay! Water funess, I wonder if you're home from Sami's yet. Hmmm, I would think so it's almost 11:00. But what ever. Yea, I'm not that mean, the girls will be nice to her. And I did update as soon as I could.I swear.  
**Eyesofacidrain-**Yea, Suboshi is taken. Thanks. I still have no idea who to pair her with.  
**MiLeggie-**Thanks, good I'm glad you're character fits. I've been stressing if everyone is in character or not, it's driving me crazy. Niether do I, that's bugging me too. Yea, I always will have them in there, even though I do reread it before I post it, not this time though.  
**Silver Pain-**Wow, long review. That sounds like fun. Yea, I've heard of henna, it's cool. Lmao, that is great, I love your imagination. You so should draw that and show me! Nooo, sugar is goood, and wasn't that a bit stupid of them to buy you coffee. And it's strange but coffee makes me tired. Is that odd?  
**Shizuka-kage-**Yea, but actually this cliffy isn't that bad. Lucky you. At least for once it's not, I will change that as soon as I get back, I promise. Wow, stares at kage yes a bit hyper and VIOLENT! And I thought I was bad.  
**Josh P.-**Thanks I will, now you just have to read the rest of it.

**

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**Chapter Four**

The room was decorated to look like some one's living room. There was a fire place which stood empty and banked which was on the same wall as the door. The one couch two love seats and four arms chairs were in a semi-circle facing the fire place. A wooden table was in the middle of the furniture.

While Sakura looked around the common room using her eyes, ten pairs of eyes stared at Sakura. When Sakura noticed this, she blushed and became extremely self conscious, especially since she did not have her black shirt on. She had not grabbed it when she was running away from him. Sakura looked at all of them briefly and then lowered her eyes to the floor which she studied in great detail, making it look like the floor was the most interesting thing she had ever seen.

"Alright girls, this is Sakura, the new student at the school. Everyone is to make her feel welcome," Emika said, and then turned to Sakura, "Ok, and now to introduce them to you."

Emika led Sakura to the middle of the semi-circle and started the introductions.

"Danieru," pointed Emika and a girl with straight black hair and light green eyes outlined by a dark green ring that smiled and waved.

"Miaka," and a girl with green eyes and brown hair which was up in twin buns with bangs, she gave her a big smile and waved frantically.

"Yui," and the girl sitting next to Miaka who nodded and smiled. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Subaru," and a girl with long pearly hair and grey eyes nodded toward Sakura.

"Aya," and the girl lying on the couch. She said, "Hey." She had light brown hair and grey eyes.

"Soi," and a girl with reddish brown hair and blue eyes nodded towards her.

"Ayla," and girl with reddish blonde hair and purple eyes waved.

"Her twin, Rika," the girl sitting next to Ayla and reddish blonde hair as well but blue eyes, she waved and smiled at Sakura.

"And lastly your room mate Megumi," who had long black hair with bangs and red eyes lined with silver and black who like Sakura had black eyeliner on. Megumi smiled at Sakura and said "Hey."

"Alright Sakura, I've introduced you to all the girls. Tomorrow you and I will pick up some of your things and I'll have your uniform ready by tomorrow morning. Megumi, I leave it to you."

"Alright Miss. Emika," Megumi said.

"Good night Miss. Emika," all the girls except Sakura chorused together.

"Good night girls," Miss. Emika answered and walked out the door leaving Sakura standing all alone.

The girls continued to stare at Sakura and Sakura looked at the floor again continuing to blush. A minute of awkward silence passed when Megumi stood up and said to Sakura "I'll show you our room, follow me. And while we're up there we can find you a shirt to wear."

Sakura nodded. Megumi walked towards the staircase and walked up to stairs. Sakura followed. They went up two flights of stairs and walked down a short hallway where they stopped in front of a door with the name Megumi on it. Megumi opened the door and motioned for Sakura to go in first and closed the door behind both of them.

"They will probably get your name plate up tomorrow," Megumi told Sakura.

Sakura nodded.

The room was quite large for a dormitory. There were two twin sized beds with the same quilts on them. The quilts were black with the four ancient gods in a circle in the middle. Each bed had two shelves above them on the wall. There were two desks opposite each bed and a bathroom. There were also to bureaus in the room.

"That bed is yours," Megumi said pointing to the bed furthest from the door, "Hold on, I'll get you a shirt. All I have is black, that's ok, right?"

"Yea, black is fine," Sakura said.

"Ok, here," Megumi said tossing a shirt at her.

"Thanks," Sakura said while putting on the black scoop neck tight shirt.

"No problem."

"There was now an awkward silence. Sakura sat down on her bed and looked around the room. Megumi followed Sakura and sat down on her own bed facing Sakura.

"So, I'm supposed to show you around. I'll show you the dormitory tomorrow," Megumi said.

"That's fine with me. It doesn't matter what we do or where we go," said Sakura.

"Then can we go to the gardens? I'm supposed to meet a few guys there; my boyfriend Nuriko and his friend actually. We just got together the other day," Megumi said blushing with a large grin on her face.

Sakura paled. '_Guys! No, guys are bad, I don't want a repeat of earlier this evening,_' Sakura thought nervously then said, desperate to get out of going, "Oh, no, I couldn't come with you. Go meet your boyfriend; I'd only be in the way. You can show me around tomorrow."

"I couldn't leave you here!"

"Yes you can. I'll be fine. I'm kind of tired any way," Sakura said trying to avoid her roommate's eyes.

"Why don't you want to go?" Megumi asked in a calm and almost dangerous voice.

Sakura looked down and made sure her bangs were covering her face.

"Look, I was once new here too, and I know that it's a big change and hard to adjust to. You've been alone your whole life and now you have a whole bunch of friends who care about you. I'm your friend Sakura!"

"I just had some bad experiences with guys, ok."

"When did it happen?"

"Sakura blushed and said "tonight," in a barely audible voice.

"Does it have anything to do with you not having a shirt on earlier?"

Sakura blushed again and nodded.

"What happened?"

Sakura lifted her eyes up and looked into Megumi's eyes. They weren't mocking or nosy or mean. They were full of concern, concern for her. Sakura felt she could trust Megumi, so she spoke, but she could barely hear the words coming out of her mouth.

"Rape…he tried to rape me."

Megumi's red, silver, and black, eyes widened in shock.

"Oh Sakura, that's horrible. If you ever need to talk I'll listen," Megumi paused, then said, "Oh, and you thought Nuriko or Hotohori would try to…try to do the same thing."

Sakura nodded.

"They wouldn't dare. They both are such nice guys. I'd kill Nuriko if he ever touched another girl and Hotohori would never do anything like that. Although if that happened to me, I wouldn't exactly trust guys anymore."

"I don't."

"Then we can go somewhere else."

"No. Go meet your boyfriend. I would feel bad-"

"I'm not going anywhere without you!"

Sakura looked at Megumi skeptically, and then said, "Fine, fine, I'll go with you. I'm just going to be in the way though."

"No you won't, you'll see, that's why Hotohori is with Nuriko. And you'll see what nice guys they are! Oh, Sakura you won't be sorry."

"She stood you up! Let's go in," said a young man pacing.

"She did not and will not stand me up! I'm waiting for her here, she said she'd be here but she might be a bit late," said the other young man sitting on a bench.

"Well, we are leaving. We are tired of waiting for her to come. You can wait, but we are leaving," said the first young man turning to leave.

"You are not going any where!" the young man on the bench said grabbing the other's wrists and pulling him down to sit.

"Let us go!"

"No way! Besides Megumi said she would be late because there is a new girl coming."

"And how does that affect us being here?"

"The new girl and Megumi are room mates, so the new girl will be coming with Megumi."

"So we are only here to keep the new girl company while you and Megumi are busy?"

"Pretty much."

"Well she better not be ugly, we cannot stand looking at ugly things," said the first young man shuddering.

"I know, you have the weirdest pet peeves you know that?" said the second young man.

"It is not strange. If you were as beautiful as us, you would not like being near ugly people or things either."

"But wouldn't being around ugly things or people just make you look more beautiful?"

The young man seemed to think about this then answered, "Yes, that is true, but we still cannot stand seeing something ugly."

"You're never going to get a girlfriend if you keep thinking like that."

"Well, if she isn't as beautiful as us, which won't happen-"

The rest of the words died in his throat. He saw two girls walking towards them. One he recognized as Megumi, the other he had never seen before. As she came closer he could see that she was dressed in a tight black scoop neck shirt which showed her curves quite nicely and a pair of black very loose bondage pants which looked like they were barely staying on her hips. She had stunning purple eyes which contrasted beautifully against her long black hair and pale skin. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

As Sakura and Megumi approached the two young men stood up. Sakura tensed.

"Don't worry. They're really nice," Megumi said reassuringly.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Of course, I'm not going to go out with an asshole. All the guys here are nice. Tomo is a bit odd, Nakago can be a bit…, Tamahome is an idiot and I don't really like him, but they are all really nice guys."

Sakura nodded nervously.

"Hey Megumi," a young man said before he kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Hey Nuriko," Megumi said, "Nuriko, Hotohori, this is Sakura, my room mate. Sakura this is Nuriko and Hotohori."

Nuriko seemed to be the shorter one, and Megumi's boyfriend. He had short purple hair and brown eyes. He also had a birthmark under his left eye. He looked like he was in very good shape and was muscular.

Hotohori was…beautiful. He was tall and carried himself with a lot of muscular grace. He had long brown hair which was in a loose ponytail and beautiful amber eyes that hadn't left Sakura's face. She blushed, and with a flick of her wrist, she had her side bangs out from behind her ears to hide her left eye. Their gazes locked, and all Sakura could see was amber eyes; she felt breathless. She wanted to look away, break the eye contact but she couldn't bring herself to look away. His eyes were so deep and beautiful; Sakura thought that she could look at them forever and never grow tired of them.

Ever since he had seen Sakura he hadn't noticed or cared about anything else. Her eyes were bewitching and he found that he couldn't take his eyes off them. They were the perfect shade of purple and had thick lashes. She had black eyeliner on and it made her eyes stand out even more. Her skin was a pale, but not a sickly pale, for there was a tiny tint of color to her cheeks (when she wasn't blushing) and a few freckles sprinkled on each cheek and nose. Her lips were full and looked red against her pale skin. Her hair was down to her waist and the blackest he had ever seen. He could stare at her forever and never tire of her beauty.

Megumi sneezed snapping Hotohori and Sakura out of their study of each other's faces.

"God bless you," Nuriko said to his girlfriend.

"Thanks," she replied and gave him a quick hug, "So shall I show you the rest of the garden Sakura? I think we have to go in soon though."

"Umm…Sure whatever you want to do Megumi," said Sakura softly.

"Megumi, if you want we'll show Sakura around, we wouldn't mind at all. That way you and Nuriko can be alone," Hotohori suggested to Megumi, then turned to Sakura, "If that's alright with you."

Sakura studied Hotohori. His eyes were sincere, kind, and gentle. His hands looked strong but gentle. Like Megumi, she felt like she could trust Hotohori.

"That's fine. Megumi, if you want to go be with Nuriko, go ahead," Sakura said.

Megumi looked apprehensive.

"Go, I'll be fine, honest."

Megumi smiled at Sakura then took Nuriko's hand and walked out of Sakura's and Hotohori's sight.

"Why were you worried about Sakura being with Hotohori alone?" Nuriko asked Megumi, "They seemed to like each other. Hotohori couldn't take his eyes off of her, and Sakura couldn't take her eyes off him either, although she was a bit shy about it."

"Sakura doesn't really trust guys right now. She was telling me why in out room, and she was even a bit nervous about coming to meet you guys," Megumi nervously.

"What happened to her?"

Megumi hesitated.

"Did her father or a family member do something to her?" Nuriko asked.

"Nuriko, I love you, and I can tell you any thing, but not this. It's her business and I don't think she would want me to tell everyone. She trusted me and it just doesn't seem right if I tell you. And I'm not really sure who did it to her, she didn't mention any names."

Nuriko smiled at her, "Alright, I understand, and I'm glad that she has such a good friend. I love you too."

Megumi smiled and blushed. He smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. When they broke apart he whispered in her ear, "How was your day?"

"Awful."

"What! Why?" he asked sounding concerned.

"I missed you."

"We saw each other all day."

"I know. I still missed you though."

Nuriko laughed softly into her ear, then whispered, "I missed you too," his breathe tickling her ear. He hugged her to his chest tighter then gave her a deeper kiss than the first.

After Nuriko and Megumi left there was an awkward silence between Sakura and Hotohori. Sakura felt nervous and wanted to run away back to her room, which ever way that was. She shifted from foot to foot and played with the rings on her fingers.

Hotohori watched her nervous behavior and wondered why she was so nervous. She seemed terrified and nervous. '_If I ever want a chance with her, even as friends, I need to reach out to her now,_' Hotohori thought.

"So which direction do you want to go in? Or if you want we can just sit and talk," he said.

"It doesn't matter to me; whichever you prefer."

"We are not the new student, you are. What you want to do, we will do it with you."

Sakura paused and thought, '_Which would be safer? If we walked around then he could get me lost, try something and I will have no clue where to go. If we sat and talked and he tried something I have some what of an idea where to go._'

"Umm…I guess where can sit and talk," she said nervously.

"That's fine with us."

They moved to sit down on the bench. Sakura made sure she was sitting on the edge of the bench; the furthest away from him. Hotohori gave her the space that she seemed to need so much.

"So what do you think of the school so far?"

"Well the girls seem very nice and the rooms are nice and large. The common room looked comfortable. The gardens are pretty and the grounds seem large."

"Oh yes, the grounds are very large. We have not even been on all of the property yet. The school says that they are getting horses soon. Maybe we could go for a ride."

"I don't know how to ride. I haven't been near a horse."

"We would love to teach you how to ride. It would be our pleasure."

"That would be nice Hotohori," Sakura said then thought, '_He seems nice; just like Megumi said. And I feel I can trust him, so I should just relax and give him a chance._'

"We hope we enjoy being here at the school."

"Do you like it here?"

"Us? Yes, we like it here. This is the happiest we have ever been."

"Really?" Sakura said, looking hopeful, "Then I'm sure I'll be happy."

"You have nothing to miss from home?"

"Home!" Sakura laughed bitterly, "I don't have a home. I don't know what a home is. I can't remember my childhood at all, and my father left us. Then my mother from grief became a drug addict and alcoholic and became a bitter whore who didn't care for her daughter any more so she offered her daughter to be a whore. Is that what a home is?"

Hotohori looked surprised at her out burst, his amber eyes wide with surprise.

"I'm sorry, I offended you," Sakura said quietly looking down at her lap. She felt the hot tears fall from violet eyes on to her cheeks. '_What the fuck is wrong with me, crying twice today. I really need to get my emotions back under control!_'

"No, _you_ could never offend us."

Sakura looked at Hotohori with surprise; she not used to the kindness and was surprised at his reaction. Sakura expected to be hit, or have cruel words thrown in her face. She sniffled, trying to maintain a calm passive face. He reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks and from under her eyes with his forefinger.

"You have every right to be bitter about the way your mother treated you. You're right, that's not a home," he said taking her wrists in his hands to turn her body towards him and so she couldn't turn away.

When she felt the pain of her wrists she cried out in pain and pulled her wrists away.

"Sakura, what's the matter! We thought we were being gentle."

Sakura looked down at her wrists in the semi-darkness. She could see the black and blue of the forming bruises. From him pinning them forcefully to the bed and squeezing them.

"Sakura did we hurt you?" Hotohori asked fearfully.

"No, you didn't hurt me, its just a little scratch."

"Let us see," he said while trying to pry her wrists from her grasp gently so he would not hurt her.

"No really it's nothing."

"Who did this to you," Hotohori said in a quiet commanding voice, "How did this happen?"

"I was just being clumsy, no need to worry."

"Sakura, please do not lie to us," he said with a hurt look in his eyes, "Please tell us how this happened."

Sakura sighed and looked away, her wrists still in Hotohori's gentle grasp in his lap.

"I want to tell you, but I'm ashamed it happened and I feel so dirty. If you knew the truth you would turn away in disgust."

"Sakura, you will never disgust us. We think you are the most beautiful young woman we have ever met," Sakura blushed at his unexpected praise, "We would feel honored if you told us what happened."

Sakura looked at him hesitantly and he gently squeezed her hands to give her courage to speak. She then began, "Like I said, my mom is a whore; she brought home a different guy every night. Tonight it was the owner of the whore house. He told my mom…he told her that I was decent looking and would make a good whore. When I told the man no thank you, my mother started beating me and screaming at me. Then she locked me in a closet," she shivered when she said closet, "for two hours. Since I had told him no thank you my mother decided to make me a whore and 'teach me a lesson.' So after I was let out of the closet I was thrown into my room with a young man. He tried…he tried to…tried to rape me. He pinned me to the bed with his body and pinned my wrists to the bed over my head which is why I have the bruises on my wrist. I did get away, I kicked him and ran. Then Miss. Emika picked me up and brought me here."

Hotohori was silent and thinking, '_How dare he even suggest that she make a good whore. And she is beautiful not decent, and how dare he even touch her. We should kill him just for that. We will take care of you now Sakura, we promise._'

"I told you, you would be disgusted," Sakura said now in full tears, "I'm disgusting and it's my entire fault. If I had just kept my damn mouth closed-"

"We are not disgusted by you. It wasn't your fault either. We would still love to be your friend. No on here would even try to rape you, and if they did try they would have us to deal with."

"That you Hotohori; you have no idea how much that means to me."

"No problem to us."

Sakura's shoulders didn't stop shaking so Hotohori quietly moved over on the bench and gently pulled her into a hug against his chest. He rubbed her back and whispered to her, "Everything will be okay; you're safe now," over and over in her ear. He loved the way she fit perfectly in his arms. Although he hated to do it, he released her when her shoulders stopped shaking. He wiped the tears from her eyes again and smiled softly at her. It took all his will power not to kiss her. She looked even more beautiful with her eyeliner smeared and drops of tears still in her eyelashes.

"You must think I am such a cry baby. I never cry though."

"No, we do not think you are a cry baby. Any one would cry after what you experienced. We do not think badly of you." '_And we never will_,' he added to himself.

"Thank you Hotohori."

"You're welcome."

They sat in a comfortable silence each of them thinking, Hotohori thinking about the beautiful girl next to him.

"That's why you were nervous," Hotohori said now understanding her behavior.

"Huh?"

"When we met you and after Megumi and Nuriko left, you looked scared and nervous."

"Yes, I was scared and nervous."

"And you were scared of us because you thought that we might try to rape you as well."

"Yes," Sakura confessed looking down.

"Sakura look at us."

Sakura looked into his eyes and they looked serious.

"We swear to you that we will never try to rape you or hurt you at all."

"Thank you Hotohori, but it's alright, you didn't have to say it, some how I knew you wouldn't. You seemed to gentle."

Hotohori laughed, "Thank you Sakura."

When Megumi and Nuriko came back they found Hotohori and Sakura in another comfortable silence looking up at the night sky.

"Sakura, Hotohori, let's go; it's almost time for us to be in our rooms," Megumi said.

Hotohori and Sakura stood up and the four of them walked to the dorms, Hotohori and Sakura flowing Nuriko and Megumi who were holding hands.

Sakura sighed contentedly and thought, '_This was the worst day of my life with the best ending. And for once I feel happy._'

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**A/n-**See see! That cliffy wasn't bad and for once Sakura is happy! I'm not as horrible as I thought I was. Alright, I'm off to vacation starts to cry so to cheer me up when I come back I better see very long reviews and you should reward me for not giving you a cliffy. Yes yes you should. Any way five minutes after I posted the last chapter I remembered the question and I was too lazy to change it. I answered it so what ever. And as promised Sakura's profile.

**Name:** Sakura

**Age:** 16

**Height:** about 5 feet, 4 ½ inches.

**Eyes:** Purple; always has eyeliner on (top and bottom of eye)

**Hair:** Waist length and black with side bangs only on the left side of her face. The side bangs are angled and start where her lips begin and end at the bottom of her earlobe.

**Complexion:** Pale with only a few freckles and a red tint to her high cheeks.

**Personality:** Introverted an untrusting. She only trusts a few people. She is shy, has low self confidence, unsure of herself, loner, loves to write and read. Almost always is depressed unless she is with those she trusts.

**Abilities:** controlling fire. She can do any thing she wants with it. She can also appear unnoticed. For example, when she doesn't want to be noticed, when people look at her they can't see her, it's not invisibility though.


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer-**I do not own Fushigi Yugi.

**A/n- **I'm sooooooo sorry about the long wait, I feel horrible. But here is the next chapter, and it's pretty long, and I have the next chapter finished, sooooo that will be up soon too. And I'm working on Chapter7 Junior year is a lot of hard work so don't expect a lot from me right now, I'll tell you if things get better.  
I have Hotohori speak in plural most of the time, the only time he speaks plural is when he is pissed or with Sakura alone from now on. And Chichiri says "no da" after everything, except when he's talking about a serious subject.

**Reader Response-**I don't know if you can respond here yet, so let me know, but I'll respond in an email I promise.

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Chapter Five

Megumi and Sakura returned to the dorms with just enough time to get to their room. Sakura had the tiniest of smiles on while Megumi was looking for pajamas for her. Megumi, meanwhile, had a large giddy smile on her face, probably from her goodnight kiss with Nuriko which took over five minutes.

"Will these do?" Megumi asked holding up a black tank top and a pair of dark red pajama pants.

"Yea, those are perfect. Can I take a shower before I go to bed?"

"Sure, there's soap in the shower and you can use my shampoo and conditioner."

"Thanks."

"Sure, no problem."

Sakura closed the door and locked it behind her; she had too many experiences with unwanted visitors when she was in the shower. She slipped off her pants and borrowed shirt, then bra and underwear. Once she was undressed she noticed that she also had the beginnings of another bruise where he had grabbed her breast, she shivered. She turned on the warm water and stepped in the shower; she stood with her back to the warm water for a minute letting the water wash over hear body and soak in to her hair.

Sakura poured some shampoo into her palms, smoothed it onto her hair, lathered it up and massaged her scalp. While she washed her hair she mainly thought of Hotohori. How he had walked her to the girls dorm. Then while Nuriko and Megumi were saying goodnight, he had walked her to their room and insisted on waiting with her until Megumi came up. They had talked about the night and how where had lived before she couldn't see any stars. He had started at her the whole time. It had made her a bit nervous and she had blushed, but his eyes weren't predatory or cruel and they did not lust. His eyes were gentle, warm, and tender but sensual. He had also kept his distance not to make her afraid or nervous. He had put the tiny smile on her face. She liked him very much but she couldn't, not yet, it was too soon. Sakura just wasn't ready for any relationship like that yet. And she had just met him maybe an hour ago.

Now for the conditioner; his golden sensuous eyes would haunt her dreams tonight. '_Yes_', Sakura decided, '_I like being here. My life is better already. I hope after tomorrow I can forget all about mom and my supposed home. But I don't think it will be that easy. I am still going to live in fear for a while. I just hope it passes. I hope I can live through my daily life without fear of her. But now that Hotohori knows about it, does he think I'm dirty? I hope not…_'

Sakura poured the body wash onto a wash cloth and scrubbed her body until she felt some what clean again. She shut off the water and rubbed herself dry. She slipped on her underwear, borrowed pants and tank top. Then she sat on the toilet and toweled her dry.

* * *

"You couldn't stop staring at her," Nuriko said with a smirk, "Was it because you finally found someone more beautiful than you or did you find her so hideous that you couldn't look away?"

Hotohori narrowed his eyes at Nuriko and said in a dangerous voice, "How dare you speak of something you know nothing of."

"Well, excuse me for noticing the obvious," Nuriko said sarcastically.

Hotohori glared at Nuriko and turned to the mirror to start brushing his hair.

Nuriko sighed and went into the bathroom. Hotohori undressed and carelessly tossed his shirt in the laundry basket. He inspected his pants to make sure that they were clean. When he saw they were he hung them on the back of his chair so he could wear them tomorrow.

* * *

When Sakura had dried most of her hair, she hung up her towel and walked into the room. Megumi was sitting Indian style at the head of her bed reading.

"Feeling better?" she asked Sakura when she appeared from the bathroom.

Sakura nodded. She walked towards her bed and turned down the sheets and slipped her legs under the blankets. Still sitting up, she brought her knees up to her chest and put her arms around them and looked around.

"You don't have to be so nervous Sakura. Your mom or the asshole isn't here. They don't know where you are and they can't come look for you. Relax."

"Yeah, I guess I can…"

"Did Hotohori…or Nuriko make you nervous?"

"Oh no. They were very nice. I enjoyed talk to Hotohori a lot."

"Really! I'm glad you had a good time! I was worried that you would get nervous and run or pass out or something."

"Oh no, I had a good time. Did you and Nuriko have a good time?"

At the question, Megumi blushed, "Yes…yes we did. Thank you for giving us time alone. It means a lot to me. Because I know you didn't feel comfortable around him at first."

"No problem. I'm glad you had a good time."

"So you think Hotohori is nice?"

"Oh yes, very nice."

"See! I told you, you didn't have anything to worry about. All the guys here are pretty much as nice as him. So now you have nothing to worry about."

"I guess."

Megumi watched her roommate. Sakura still seemed nervous and on guard. She started rocking back and forth and biting her lip. She rested her chin on her knees and her violet eyes looked around the room again before hiding her face in her knees. Megumi got up off her bed and walked over to Sakura.

"Sakura," Megumi said placing a hand on her shoulder, "Can I sit down?"

Sakura nodded and picked up her head. There were tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"This school is a different world from the out there. We all have a sad past, but you can't change what happened. What happened then doesn't matter any more, no one cares; you get a new beginning, you can start again. Let it go; don't live in fear of it. What happened won't happen here. All the guys are nice, and I won't let it happen, I promise."

"But I care, and I can't just let it go. How can I?"

"What happened was horrible, it never should have happened. But I guarantee that you will never go back to the life that you had and you will never see him again. And I promise that the demons of your past will go away over time."

"How can you be sure?"

Megumi smiled, "Because with the help of him and his love I became happy, and I could chase away the demons and heal the scars on my heart."

Sakura blushed and thought '_He could never love me as Nuriko loves Megumi. I have no redeeming qualities like Megumi._'

"Trust me. It may take time, but it will happen. And you might not think it but you are beautiful."

"Do you think I'm dirty? Because I feel it, even after the shower."

"Just because a dirty man touched you doesn't make you dirty. You're still a virgin. He won't think any less of you or think you are dirty."

"What?"

"He won't think you are dirty. Oh, and by the way, don't tell him who did what to you. He loses his temper sometimes, but he will never yell at you, I don't think he would ever forgive himself if he did."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Hotohori."

Sakura blushed, "How do you know?"

"I saw they way he looked at you. And I watched they way you were acting."

"He could never like me."

Megumi laughed, "Oh yes he would."

Sakura held out her wrists to show Megumi her bruises, "He saw them, my bruises. Then he got really worried. And he asked what happened, and I told him."

"Just don't tell him who."

"I don't even know who he was."

"Oh good, He will be very protective of you. And with him and me protecting you nothing will happen."

"But he doesn't like me like that."

Megumi laughed. "You don't give yourself enough credit. But whatever you say," Megumi looked over at the clock, "Well it's lights out time. Good night."

"Good night."

After a few minutes of silence Sakura said, "Megumi?"

"Mmm…"

"Thank you."

She laughed softly, "Any time."

* * *

Nuriko walked out of the bathroom into the room and an awkward silence.

"So you do like her," Nuriko said.

Hotohori shot a glare at him.

"You don't have to glare at me! I have a girlfriend that I love very much and she loves me."

"…true."

"I'm sorry, jeez, can't you take a joke?"

Hotohori turned around and faced Nuriko.

"A joke, a joke! Never about her, I will never joke about her. I could never joke about her."

"Ok, ok, no need to get upset. I won't joke about her."

"Thank you."

More silence followed. But Hotohori's anger slowly receded as he thought about Sakura. A smile slowly appeared on his face. He thought of her violet eyes, her pale skin that seemed softer than silk, and her hair darker than the night sky, her perfect curves, the way her bangs fell in her eyes, and the way he felt when he was around her, or even thinking about her.

Nuriko watched Hotohori and said, "Now you know how I felt when I met Megumi. I remember you thought I was crazy."

Hotohori laughed, "Yes, we remember, we did think you were crazy, but not any more."

"So…what did she look like up close, how did she act? She seemed nervous."

"She is very nervous around men. But she got less nervous as the night went on. And she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. She has large purple eyes that I could look into all day. Her skin looks so pale but not sickly, there is a hint of color in her cheeks. Her hair is wavy and waist length and darker than the night sky. Her hair is parted slightly to the right side and has bangs on the left side which are almost always over her left eye. But she has no idea of how beautiful she is. She is incredibly shy and is really quiet but she has a beautiful soft voice when she does speak."

"Ok, ok, point taken. Wow, you have that memorized."

"Her face will be forever be etched in my heart."

"Don't make me sick!"

"You were just as bad. We thought we would be sick many times."

"At least now I won't feel guilty about kicking you out of our room."

"You never felt guilty about kicking us out."

"I did too! At first at least; as soon as you walked in I was no longer guilty."

"Well you should have answered when we knocked."

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you, I was…busy."

Hotohori smirked, "Good choice of words."

"What should I have said then?"

"NO DAAAAA!" yelled a voice from another room, followed by doors opening. Hotohori and Nuriko ran to the door and opened it and stuck their heads out. In the hallway everyone else in the dorm was looking around and door was open but one.

"Not again Tasuki, no da."

"Sorry Chichiri, I didn't mean for ya to get hurt."

A blonde haired blue eyed Nakago opened the door and showed Chichiri looking a bit singed, Tasuki in his pants, tessen in hand and Chichiri's desk burnt with scorch marks on the wall. Everyone had a laugh when they saw what had happened.

"Baka," a voice muttered.

"You wanna fight twerp!" Tasuki challenged.

"I could take you any day fang boy!"

"Not before I burn you to a crisp yo-yo boy!"

"Not a chance," the young boy named Suboshi said while is ryusei-sui circled him, threatening to strike.

Hotohori slid over to a young man who looked very much like him, but had lighter brown hair and grey eyes and bangs.

"Tatara," Hotohori said quietly to him, "A bit of help?" Of course," Tatara answered quietly to him and took what looked like a bead off of his necklace. He put it in his palm, closed his eyes, and focused on it. The "bead" was a seed which vines came out to encircle Tasuki.

"If you wanna play tough," Tasuki said raising his tessen, and started to yell, "Rekka shin-"when he was cut off by something encircling him.

"WHAT TH' HELL!" yelled Tasuki as his arms were bound to his sides by the vines.

Tatara quickly pulled another seed from his necklace and focused on it to make more vines encircle Suboshi.

"Damn you Tatara!" Suboshi yelled and directed his ryusei-sui towards Tatara.

"Suboshi!" said a young man who looked exactly like Suboshi, dark blonde hair and blue eyes. The ryusei-sui stopped in their tracks, but still hung in the air dangerously.

"But Amiboshi, he…"

"Bring them down Suboshi. That was only trying to stop the fight."

"Tasuki needs to beaten to a pulp."

"So do you," Tasuki yelled, "Ya little punk!"

"Shut your mouth fang-boy, or I'll shut it for you!"

"And how ya gonna make me, you're tied up just like me!"

"Suboshi, bring down your ryusei-sui. And Tatara will let you go if you promise not to go after any one. Especially Tasuki or Tatara," Amiboshi told his twin.

"Fine," Suboshi said grudgingly, and lowered his ryusei-sui.

"An' what about me!" Tasuki yelled.

"Tasuki, calm down, no da," Chichiri said.

Suboshi glared at Tasuki menacingly and Amiboshi was whispering in his ear, trying to calm him down and go back to their room. Suboshi glared at one more time at Tasuki, then Tatara. Amiboshi nodded to Tatara and Tatara let the vines fall to the floor. Suboshi turned to go back to their room. Before Amiboshi followed his brother, he called out to Tasuki and said, "Tasuki, I apologize for my brother's actions, he has a bit of a temper."

"We'll take care of everything else, no da. You all can go back to your rooms, no do," Chichiri said politely.

Everyone turned to go except Hotohori, Nuriko, Chiriko and Mitsukake.

"If a few of you would stay," Hotohori said.

No one turned to stay.

"Tamahome…" Hotohori said, and a young man with aqua green hair stopped.

"Why do I need to stay?" he complained.

Hotohori ignored him and turned to Tatara and asked, "Would you mind staying because your vines are wrapped around Tasuki?"

"I'll stay."

"We will appreciate that very much."

"Why th' hell am I still tied up!" Tasuki bellowed.

"Because if we give the order to untie you, you will go after Suboshi," Hotohori said.

"That's not true!" Tasuki said with a suspicious look on his face, "NOW FUCKING UNTIE ME!"

When no one moved he started jumping up and down and squirming trying to get out of his bonds. He let a string of curses fly and then fell over. Everyone sweat dropped. Nuriko and Chichiri helped him to his feet.

"Now Tasuki, I thought we said that you had to keep your temper in check and not go around fight everyone, no da." Chichiri said.

"I don't fight everyone. Just the Seiryu bastards who think that they have fucking crowns on their heads."

"Amiboshi is nice, and so are Ayla and Rika," Tamahome said.

"No, I'm talking about Nakago, Tomo, Miboshi, Ashitare, Suboshi, and sometimes Soi."

"You are the only person with things against him, no da. But all is agreed about Miboshi and Ashitare, no da."

"Well then let me go and I'll go burn them to a crisp too."

Chichiri, Mitsukake, and Chiriko sweat dropped. Nuriko said, "That sounds like a pretty good idea to me." And Hotohori shook his head and muttered "We're not getting any where."

"Tasuki, you can't go burning everyone you don't like, no da. You're going to get in trouble now, but in real life, out side of school, you can't, no da," Chichiri said try to reason with the stubborn Tasuki.

"Yes I can! They'll never catch me!"

"What would Danieru think, no da? She won't be too happy, no da. And she'll be angry that you played with fire in the dorms, burned me and my desk, and almost got into another fight all in one night, no da."

Tasuki gulped. '_She didn't speak to me for a couple of weeks last time I did all three. It's not like she glared at me, she completely ignored my existence and avoided me. Then she blew up at me. Then the next day things were back to somewhat normal_,' Tasuki thought, then said, "Ok, fine I promise not to do anything, just let me go."

Hotohori nodded to Tatara. Tatara closed his eyes and let the vines fall to the floor.

"Thank you, Tatara for staying, and you are free to go or to stay now."

"You're welcome Hotohori. I will leave now, and its lights out in a few minutes so you guys should probably get back to your rooms as well."

"Well we are almost done here, no da. Tasuki's temper is under control again, Chichiri said.

Tatara nodded, and turned to go to his room. Tasuki shot a glare at Chichiri and Chichiri rolled his eyes.

"Well, we have to take care of this tomorrow afternoon," Hotohori said, "We would like to go back to our room but we don't care what you do."

Tamahome muttered, "Finally," and turned to leave. The others followed but Chichiri put a hand on Hotohori's shoulder. Chichiri did not speak until the hallway was clear.

"You are different," he said seriously.

"What?" Hotohori asked confused.

"You are different. You have changed since dinner."

"We have not changed."

"Yes, you have. I do not know how or why, but your energy, chi, it feels different."

Hotohori looked at Chichiri, a puzzled look on his face, and then asked, trying to change the topic, "Can you feel a new chi in the girls' dorm?"

"Yes," Chichiri said after closing his eyes and searching for the new chi, "She is quite powerful, but she must become confident."

"Where does she belong?"

A few moments passed and Chichiri said smiled and said, "Suzaku." Hotohori smiled.

"Have you met her?"

"We have."

Chichiri studied Hotohori for a few seconds, and then said, "Well Tasuki is in our room, alone, no da. And I am getting tired, and it is past the time we are supposed to be in our rooms, no da. So, I'm going to bed, no da. Good night."

"We will go to bed also. Good night."

They each turned and went in to their rooms. Chichiri found Tasuki lying in bed and Hotohori found Nuriko sitting down, waiting to finish their conversation.

"Do you even remember where we left off?" Hotohori asked.

"…No…" Nuriko said slowly.

"Well neither do we. And we want to go to bed, we need our beauty sleep.

Nuriko snorted, "I doubt that will do much." Hotohori glared at Nuriko and said, "We will pretend you didn't say that. Good night."

"A soft spot, eh? Night."

They got into their beds, turned off lights and closed their eyes.

* * *

**A/n-**There wasn't a real cliffy for this one either, but the next chapter I'm sure will piss you guys off. Sorry. Here's the profile for the twins Aya and Rika.

**Name:** Aya

**Age:** 17

**Height:** 5 feet, 6 ½ inches; she has a very long and muscular body.

**Eyes:** Grey

**Hair:** light brown which is a little longer than earlobe length.

**Completion:** olive; tan.

**Personality:** tomboy! She is very unpredictable and almost bipolar. She wears her emotions on her sleeve and they are very extreme. When she is angry she is violent. Her emotions are simple but complex.

**Abilities:** She can control all aspects of the weather. And when she has a particularly strong emotion the weather changes and she can't control is as much.

**Name:** Rika

**Age:** 16

**Height:** 5 feet, 5 inches.

**Eyes:** dark blue

**Hair:** shoulder length straight reddish blonde

**Complexion:** fair with naturally rosy cheeks and freckles.

**Personality:** extremely loyal, but innocent and pure for her age. She is also naive but learns quickly and understands them. And she is never afraid to give her opinion.

**Abilities:** has the power of voice. When she sings she can change any emotion except love and hate. She can also give people strength and energy or put them to sleep. In combat all of her techniques are combined with her sister, Rika is defensive and Ayla is offensive.


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer-**I do not own any Fushigi Yugi characters.

**A/N-**Well, this one is insanly short, but deal with it. Chapter 7 is done and I'm working on typing it up. And before the holidays I'm going to try to get chapter 8 up, but don't count on it.

And this Chapter is for my friend Silver who's birthday is this week, so Happy Birthday!

* * *

Chapter Six

"Do the others accept her?" asked a cold, cruel voice.

"Yes my Lord," said a kneeing woman in a black floor length cloak with a hood. Her voice was deep and mysterious.

"Good, good," the cold voice answered, "Tell me of our progress."

"Yes, my Lord. We have almost recruited two current students to be our spys. We are almost done finding all of Suzuku's and Seiryu's chosen. We have four of Byakko's and we have not yet found any of Genbu's my Lord."

"We need a balance of power! Find me some of Genbu's chosen and more of Byakko's!"

"Yes, my Lord."

"How many students do we have together so far?"

"Eleven Suzaku, four Byakko, and ten Seiryu, my Lord; so 25 my Lord."

"Well done."

"Thank you my Lord."

"Next time I see you, I want a balance of power. Understand?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"You know the consequences?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good, now go."

"Of course, my Lord."

She crawled forward and kissed the floor in front of his feet and then the hem of his robe. She crawled back, bowed, and left the room.

* * *

**A/N-**Well, give me time to answer your reviews, I'm a bit sick right now, so I'll answer your next reveiws, sorry.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer-**I do not own Fushigi Yugi.

**A/N-**Well, here it is, the next chapter. And Chapter Eight is done. I'm typing it up, and writing Chaper Nine is started. So everything is going very well, which is good to know for you guys I guess. And this chapter is a lot longer than the last one. And I'll get to your emails right after this, I promise.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Seven**

Sakura woke up to an alarm clock. She saw Megumi reach over and turn it off.

"Miss. Emika will probably be over soon with your uniforms and to take you back to your house. But I have to get to breakfast and class."

Sakura nodded, still half asleep. Megumi grabbed stuff out of her dresser and went into the bathroom and closed the door. Sakura rolled onto her back and stretched. '_At least no more torture from the people in my old school_,' she thought, '_The people here can't be worse then them._'

The school slowly began to wake up; she heard the other girls opening and closing doors, water running, their voices carrying down the hallway, the sound of bare feet running up and down the hallway. Sakura finally realized after today that she would be free of her mother and old life. '_I think I finally I might have a chance of having a somewhat normal life and being happy. I can start my life again; I don't have to live in fear. Maybe I can forget and let everything go_,' Sakura thought, '_Megumi was right, well, at least I hope she is._'

A knock woke her from her thoughts and then a voice she recognized as Miss. Emika's spoke.

"Megumi, Sakura? Are you girls up yet?"

Sakura got up from her bed and opened the door for Miss. Emika. She smiled warmly at Sakura.

"I suppose Megumi is in the bathroom," the older woman said looking around room, "But I'm here to talk to you any way. You are in the Suzaku group and here is your uniform. Everything should fit. You have to wear them every day to class except Saturday and Sunday or holidays."

Miss. Emika paused and then continued, "And I'll meet you after breakfast in the cafeteria at 8 o'clock sharp. Then I'll take you to your house and we can get your clothes and any thing else you need. And wear your uniform."

Sakura nodded and said, "Yes ma'am."

"Good girl. See you then," Miss. Emika said, and then Sakura nodded. Miss. Emika left and Sakura was alone again. She put the stack of clothes on the foot of her bed and took the first item from the stack, which was a pair of black knee socks. She put all of the socks on her bed, and picked up a skirt from the pile. It was pleated and black. She held it up to her hips and it's a hem ended at her lower thigh. She put all of the skirts on the bed next to the socks. Red ties were next on the pile and they had a little red orange and yellow little phoenix at the end; then white button down collared shirts, the shirts and ties followed the skirts and were put on the bed. Sport coats were the last part of the uniform. They were black and on the left where there should have been a breast pocket would be there was the same design on the bed spread embroidered there. The last thing on the bed that she hadn't looked at was a pair of shoes. They were black and had a low heel, maybe an inch and no straps.

Megumi came out of the bathroom, and saw Sakura had her uniform. "I see Miss. Emika gave you your uniform," Megumi said, "They aren't so bad are they?"

"I like them better than my old ones."

"I did too; I still like them some what. Did she say what group you were in?"

"Yes, Suzaku."

"That's the one I'm in! Hotohori and Nuriko too!"

Sakura smiled at that piece of information, she supposed that meant that she would be seeing a lot more of Hotohori and she didn't mind that fact at all. As well as seeing Megumi a lot. "Who else…?" Sakura asked quietly.

"There's Tamahome, and I don't really like him, Miaka, and I hate her! Hotohori, Nuriko, Chichiri who is nice and funny, Tasuki is nice, but a bit violent at times, but very nice, Chiriko who's a genius, Mitsukake, Danieru who's really sweet, and me and you. I think that's everyone."

Sakura nodded, and Megumi added, "Don't worry, Tamahome can be an asshole, but he won't hurt you, he's too obsessed with Miaka to notice any other girl. And you have Hotohori and I to protect you." Sakura smiled at Megumi.

"Well I would change if I were you," Megumi advised, "Breakfast is soon."

Sakura nodded again and grabbed a shirt, socks, tie, jacket, and skirt from the bed and got her bra from the dresser. She went into the bathroom and locked the door shut. She quickly changed clothes and looked at herself in the mirror. She brushed her hair and teeth. She looked at her reflection again, something was missing…eyeliner!

"Megumi?" Sakura called.

"Yeah."

"Can I use some black eyeliner?"

"Sure, let me in, I'll get it for you."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Sakura unlocked the door, and Megumi came in. She opened her cabinet and gave Sakura a stick of black eyeliner and a sharpener. Sakura didn't need to sharpen it, so she just put it one, exactly as she did every time she applied her eyeliner. When she was done, she sharpened it sand gave it back to Megumi. She looked at her reflection one last time and flicked her bangs over her left eye and walked out of the bathroom.

Sakura put on her shoes and stared at Megumi who was sitting on her bed obviously ready to go.

"So what's the plan?" she asked Sakura.

"I'm going to breakfast then Miss. Emika is going to meet me in the cafeteria after breakfast and take me back to my house to get my stuff," Sakura said looking a bit nervous.

"Sakura, everything is going to be fine, everyone is really nice. Hotohori will be there, he will be there, he will eat with you, I guarantee it. And at your house, Miss. Emika won't let anything happen to you. She will go in with you, get what you need and then leave, nothing more. And then you'll never have to go back there again. It's not your home any more Sakura, it never was, but this is your home now, we'll take care of you."

Sakura gulped and nodded. Megumi put her arm around her new friend and said, "Come on, let's go to the cafeteria and have some breakfast." Megumi got up and walked towards the door and Sakura followed.

The cafeteria looked like any normal school cafeteria. It seemed at bit more friendly and homey, and it was a lot cleaner. Instead of a few long tables though, there were a lot of round tables that seated four to six people.

Megumi and Sakura walked over to the buffet. When Sakura touched nothing, Megumi asked "Not hungry or nervous?"

"Both," Sakura answered, quieter than normal.

"You need to eat something," Megumi told her and handed her a tray, "What do you want?"

"Nothing really."

Megumi rolled her eyes and sighed. She put a plain bowl of rice on her tray and a pair of chopsticks. She poured some tea in a cup and put that on Sakura's tray as well. She helped herself to some food and went to a table and sat. Sakura followed her and when she sat down Megumi instructed, "Eat." Sakura looked at her food and sighed and then took a sip of tea.

"So how did you-" Megumi started to say but ended with a squeal. "Nuriko!"

"Yes," he said feigning innocence.

Megumi glared at him and he chuckled and kissed her on the cheek and said, "Good morning."

"Hey!" Megumi complained, and he chuckled again and kissed her on the lips quickly. She smiled at him and he smiled back and sat next to her.

"Sakura, may we sit here?" Hotohori asked Sakura gently.

Sakura nodded and he sat down next to her and asked, "Did you have a good night sleep?"

"Yes," she said quieter than ever, "you?"

"Yes, we slept very well thank you."

"Morning Megumi, Sakura, Nuriko, Hotohori," said Danieru, a girl with green eyes and black hair. She seemed a bit annoyed and upset. She sat down next to Hotohori and started eating.

"Danieru! I'm sorry; I'll never do it again! Please don't be mad at me," said a young man with hair that looked like fire, tan skin, and slanted green eyes. He sat down in the between Nuriko and Danieru. He completely ignored everyone else but Danieru and continued to beg, "It was an accident, I swear, I never meant to do it!"

Nuriko rolled his eyes and Hotohori sighed. Megumi looked at Nuriko, question and curiosity written all over her face. Danieru continued to look annoyed, and Sakura had a bewildered look on her face. Tasuki shot a glare at Nuriko then Hotohori. He noticed Sakura sitting next to Hotohori looking confused, nervous, and trying to make herself be unnoticed.

"Hey," he said, "You're the new girl."

Sakura blushed and nodded, so Megumi stepped in. "Tasuki! Be nice! This is Sakura; Sakura, this is Tasuki."

Tasuki flashed a two fanged wolfish grin at her, and she blinked then her large violet eyes widened and stared. Megumi elbowed her and she blushed and looked down at her untouched food. Everyone else at the table was eating and talking animatedly. She looked at her tea, rise and chopsticks with still no desire to eat. She crossed her arms and sat quietly, thinking about nothing.

"Not hungry?" a gentle voice asked quietly in her ear.

She looked over and up into Hotohori's concerned gentle gold eyes. Sakura shook her head.

"Nervous?" he asked.

Slowly she nodded. He smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it. We would be nervous as well. Miss. Emika will be there with you. And we would go with you if we could, but you have classes. You will be safe thought, don't worry about it. Will any one be there?"

"No one is ever there, I was always home alone. My so called mother only came home for dinner. But who knows since I ran away last night. It changed everything. It was the first time I ever stood up to anyone and disobeyed my mother."

"Yes, we would imagine so. And you should have stood up for yourself much sooner than you did. But don't worry so much now. We know you must dread going back. But right now you are with us at the school, and you are safe. You will always be safe with us, or when we are near; we will always take care of you."

Sakura nodded and looked down to hid her blush, and said quietly, "You don't need to worry yourself with me. I'm no one important. No one will care if I'm scared or nervous, no one would miss me if I disappeared."

"You are mistaken," Hotohori said seriously, "Sakura, look at me."

Sakura looked up at him. He looked down at her seriously. She loved his eyes. They were always so gentle when she saw them; gentle and kind. He took her face in his hands and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. When she first felt the contact she tensed, but relaxed as soon as she felt the gentleness in his touch.

"Please, never say that again. It is not true, not true at all. We would be very upset if you just disappeared. And Megumi would be too. You have friends now, we care about you."

She nodded slowly. She couldn't help but trust him. He easily got through the wall around her emotions and feelings; he changed the way she felt about everything. He broke the guard around her heart and she would follow him anywhere.

"Alright, now that we have that figured out," Hotohori said and took his hands away from her face, and she missed them instantly. "You really should eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

Megumi turned around and stared at Sakura pointedly and said, "Eat. Now. I say you are hungry," in a loud voice.

Everyone at the table stared silently at Megumi and Sakura.

"I won't stop bothering you until you eat."

Sakura sighed and picked up her chopsticks and put a small bite of rice in her mouth. "Good. Hotohori watch her to make sure she eats," Megumi said and turned towards Nuriko again. With that everyone stopped staring at her, and she was glad, too much attention at once.

Sakura studied everyone at the table. Next to her, Megumi talked with the four other people at the table. She sat up straight, confident of herself, all smiles and laughs. Nuriko watched Megumi's every move, entranced. Occasionally she would smile at him, a smile she reserved only for him. Tasuki sat quietly, occasionally putting in his thoughts and words which were usually loud. Danieru sat next to him talking to Megumi, sat next to him completely ignoring Tasuki. He seemed to be begging for attention from her, even if it was mean or sarcastic. Hotohori sat quietly, barely talking to the others. He ate his food in small bites and all of his movements were full of grace.

Sakura looked at the other people in the cafeteria. They all looked normal except for on. He sat next to one of the tables on the floor. He looked like he was across between a man and a wolf. He caught her eye and bared his teeth at her. Sakura shuddered and looked away. She saw the twins, Ayla and Rika sitting with Soi, a tall blonde man, and two other boys that looked alike so she supposed they were twins as well. Aya and Subaru were sitting with two other men. She noticed Miaka stuffing her face sitting between Yui and an aqua haired young man.

"What do you think of everyone?" Hotohori asked her.

"They all seem so…normal," she answered him.

"Most of us do. Only Ashitare looks different so far."

Sakura shuddered, remembering the way he looked at her almost like she was food. Hotohori chuckled, then said, "Don't worry. He's not in out group. But try to stay clear of him, he's not very nice. At least let your abilities to develop before dealing with some people here, they can be quite mean."

Sakura nodded, looking a bit afraid now.

"But again, don't worry, we will take care of you," he said to her. She blushed and nodded.

One by one people began to get up and throw out their garbage and put their dishes and trays in stacks. The cafeteria began to clear out and Hotohori took Sakura's barely eaten rice and tea and his own garbage and threw it out. While he was gone Megumi asked, "Do you want me to wait with you until Miss. Emika comes?"

"Oh, um, no. You can go to class, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Ok," Megumi said and gave her a quick hug, "Good luck."

"Thank you."

She ran after Nuriko and they walked out holding hands. The cafeteria was now empty and it seemed so big with out anyone else in it with her. Someone placed a hand on her shoulder though she thought she was alone and looked up into Hotohori's kind handsome face.

"I will wait with you," he said.

"Oh, no you don't have to, go to class. I'll be fine."

"No," he said firmly, "I'm going to wait with you," and sat down next to her almost like a spoiled stubborn child.

"There's no need, really…" Sakura trialed off.

"Yes there is. I refuse to leave alone; especially when you're nervous and upset."

"I'm fine, honest."

"I'm still going to stay with you," Hotohori said stubbornly. Sakura chuckled at his child like stubbornness, and said, "Ok, you stay with me then."

"I will then."

Sakura smiled shyly at him and then looked back down at her lap.

"Sakura," he said and lifted her chin so she was looking at him, "You don't have to keep your guard up. I will never hurt you, ever. And I will protect you, I will keep you safe, I promise."

Sakura looked at him letting her eyes fill with emotion, and letting him read her eyes. She let her eyes fill with her sadness, fear, hope, loneliness. She tried to tell him with out words how she wanted to trust him and how she loved him, and how he saved her.

He looked deep into her purple eyes. He saw that they were filled with emotion and tried to tell him how she felt. Fear and hope were mixed with how lonely she was, how sad she could be. He felt like he was drowning in all of her emotions and thoughts. Her purple eyes overwhelmed him. He filled his eyes with emotion as well, wanting to tell her, try to let her know, how much he loved her, how he wanted to protect her for the rest of his life. How he needed her to live, how he couldn't go on with out her now, she was his drug and he was addicted.

They stared into each other's eyes. Hotohori's hand didn't drop from her chin and she gulped and he bent over, his heart was pounding. Her lips looked so perfect, her eyes were even more beautiful the closer he got. She was even more perfect and beautiful up close. She looked more beautiful and helpless more than ever before. Sakura started to panic, he was too close, and her heart was pounding. She had to tear her eyes away from his, she was getting sucked in, she wouldn't be able to go back, and she wasn't ready for what she knew was coming. It took all of her strength to break the mood with her soft voice.

"No," she said softly, "Wait. It's too soon, I need more time. Please. I'm sorry." She tore her eyes away and looked down so he didn't see the pain in her eyes, her cheeks red with humiliation.

"Sakura, please look at me."

She looked up at him and tears of humiliation spilled on to her cheeks. He took her face into his hands and wiped the tears away with his thumbs.

"Don't cry, please don't cry. I don't want to hurt, not ever. I'll wait, I'll wait. I'll wait forever for you. Let me be your friend until then, unless you would rather stay friends and nothing more."

Sakura sniffled, and looked at him, unable to convey her feelings to him.

"I…I…I just need time. I'm sorry. I do like you, I really do. I just need time. I'm sorry. I need time to heal, the scars and the new wounds that were just created. I can't bear any man's touch right now, except for your friendly hugs and such as that. But I'm just, so afraid, afraid that they will snap and attack me like _he_ did. And……"

"Sakura, I will protect you. I swear to you I will protect you so it doesn't happen again. And I will never do that to you, attack you, or force you to do anything you don't want to do. I love and respect you too much to hurt you in any way. And I understand. And, I'll be here when you need me; anytime, all the time."

Sakura nodded.

"And you'll do fine today, and when you come back tonight I'll be waiting here for you and we can talk about everything, if you want, we can get everything off out chests. You'll be safe; Miss. Emika will protect you from your mother and any other fiend that may come along."

Sakura looked up at him. His eyes were sincere and told her that what he was saying was true. She nodded again.

"I'll be here for you anytime you need me, always and forever my love," he said softly and then kissed her on the cheek.

Sakura blushed but didn't look down; she kept her eyes on his and said "Thank you." They started at each other, each taking the beauty, wonder, and mystery of each other in. Studying their features, the unique eyes of Sakura, her delicate face and bone structure, her soft skin, and her perfect lips made Sakura the most elegant person Hotohori had ever laid his eyes on. Hotohori's golden eyes, his perfect face, and soft skin all combined to make the most beautiful face that Sakura had ever seen.

A woman clearing her throat made them jump and look away from each other. Miss. Emika stood at the edge of the cafeteria. When she saw that they were looking at her she walked briskly toward them while saying, "Sorry to interrupt. And sorry I'm late. But I'm here now, let's go."

Sakura looked at Hotohori one last time and mumbled, "Goodbye," and followed Miss. Emika out of the cafeteria. Hotohori said goodbye back to her and watched her follow Miss. Emika out of the cafeteria. Sakura felt it might be the last time she saw him, and started to try to convince herself otherwise. And Hotohori felt the same way. Like he might never see him again, and the thought pained him, more than anything he had ever felt before.

* * *

Sakura sat in the same car that had saved her last night, driving down the same street towards her house. She looked down at her lap, never moving except for her fidgeting hands which were in her lap. Her stomach turned and she felt like she was going to be sick. When they got closer to her house she started to rock back and forth. She brought her knees up and hugged them to her chest. The car stopped in front of the house and Miss. Emika tapped Sakura on the shoulder and said, "Sakura? We're here, let's go."

Sakura looked at her, purple eyes wide and full of fear. She nodded and gulped. She let her knees go and she followed Miss. Emika to the door. If anyone is home, don't say anything, let me take care of your mother and any one else that may be inside."

Sakura nodded and then Miss. Emika knocked on the door. No one answered; she knocked again, and waited. A few minutes later the door opened violently. Sakura's mother's face appeared, she saw Miss. Emika, and she was confused. Sakura studied her mother, her hair was tangled, and her eyes were dilated so she was drunk. She was also wearing the same clothes she was last night. She could also smell the bitterness of hard alcohol. If she drunk, that wasn't good, when she was drunk she was disagreeable, hard to talk to, and most of all violent.

"What can I do for you?" she asked opening the door a bit more.

"I'm Emika Wakamiya, from a school for gifted students. Regular schools do not challenge these students enough, the school is a boarding school and free. Your daughter, Sakura, is a gifted young woman and can attend our school. She is a very smart and talented girl who needs extra stimulation and programs which are taught at our school and no other. You won't have to worry about her or her future any more; we will take full responsibilities of her."

Arisa looked at her like she was crazy, "Sakura," she said slowly, "my daughter?"

"Yes ma'am."

Sakura's mother let out a cold cruel laugh. "You must be joking! Sakura is the stupidest girl I know. She can't even make full sentences most of the time!"

"No, that's not the case. She is very smart, but very shy, and has some mental distress. She needs the right care and stimulation, which we have in our classes. We can give her the care, help, and stimulation she needs. It's completely free and we provide everything for our students."

"Look lady, I don't care what you have to say. I could care less what happens to the girl. But she just ran off last night and I haven't seen her so leave me alone."

"Arisa," Miss. Emika said, "I have your daughter. I picked her up off the streets last night, running from some man. He was too young to be his father and she seemed quite upset so I brought her to the school."

Arisa raised one eye brow, and said, "So where the hell is she!"

"Sakura," Miss. Emika said gently and Sakura stepped out from behind Miss. Emika. She saw her mother fill with rage and her eyes became cold and hatful.

"Thank you for returning her," Arisa said and grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her away from Miss. Emika, shoved her inside and began to close the door.

"Arisa don't close that door."

"And why is that?"

"It would be better for everyone if you just let me take her back to the school."

"She's my daughter; I think I know what's best for her."

She slammed the door in Miss. Emika's face and locked the door.

"Well, that went well," Miss. Emika muttered.

From the inside she could hear Sakura plead with her mother and Arisa yelling at her daughter. "How dare you run away! How dare you go with that woman!"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Sakura repeated over and over again.

"In you go."

"No! Anything but that! I swear I'll never do it again. No, please no."

"Shut up."

Miss. Emika heard a door open, and after a few minutes slam and lock. Miss. Emika looked around and walked back to the car and got in. She picked up her cell phone and dialed.

"I need some back up."

"The mother has Sakura, the door is locked and it sounds like she was beaten and locked somewhere."

"I'll need the 3 students, Hotohori, Nuriko, and Megumi. And I'll need memory erasing drugs and perhaps some tranquilizers as soon as possible."

"Thank you."

Miss. Emika hung up the phone and turned to the driver and said, "We wait here for the back up."

"Yes ma'am," the driver said.

'_Don't worry Sakura_,' Miss. Emika thought, '_We're coming, we won't leave you here. You'll be safe soon._'

* * *

**A/N-**So how did you like huh? Aren't I a horrible person. I feel soooo bad for putting Sakura through this shit, but I can't really help it, her mother is a bitch.

And I would have given you Megumi's profile, but I don't have all of the information for it, sooooo Silver...I need everything for it. I'll email what I have for you.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer-**I do not own Fushigi Yugi.

**A/N-**The next chapter, finally. I'm sorry about the wait. I put off typing it forever, then I started Karate a little while ago so now I have no free time between school, homework, chores, Karate, and skiing. But I'll stop skiing in April which is in a couple weeks. I actually thing next weekend is my last weekend. So be happy people. And this chapter is very long, 12 pages typed. Go me! I bet that makes you rabid readers happy or it should. Exceot the cliff hanger is pretty bad...Waaaah, don't kill me!

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Sakura was pulled roughly away from Miss. Emika by her mother who held her arm tightly. She tried to pull away but her mother dug her nails into her flesh. Sakura winced and stopped trying to struggle. Her mother shoved her into the house, never letting go of her arm. She began to close the door but then Sakura heard Miss. Emika warn, "Arisa, don't close that door."

"And why is that?"

"It would be better for everyone if you just let me take her back to the school."

"She's my daughter; I think I know what's best for her," she said cruelly and slammed the door in Miss. Emika's face and locked it.

"How dare you run away! How dare you go with that woman!"

She hit Sakura again and again, not stopping and never letting go of her arm. She squeezed tighter and tighter until Sakura felt her mother's nails break her skin and blood trickle down her arm.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Sakura pleaded over and over again in a pleading voice.

Arisa looked at her daughter though cold calculating eyes and said, "In you go," in a cruel, cold, voice.

"No!" Sakura said fearfully, "Anything but that! I swear I'll never do it again. No, please no."

"Shut up," her mother told her and smacked her. She squeezed Sakura's arm and Sakura whimpered in pain. Sakura tried to pull away, tried to resist but her mother dug her nails in and squeezed her arm. She felt the tears start to come and she shut her eyes and let her mother pull her towards the closet.

Her mother opened the door and threw her against the wall. When Sakura hit the wall, she cried out in pain, for it was the arm that had been squeezed by her mother that hit the wall. She sank to the floor and inched towards the corner.

"You bitch," her mother spat. Sakura looked up at her mother fearfully, tears slowly running down her face. "How dare you run away," she hissed, "After all I've done for you. I've given you a roof to live under; clothing, food, money, and yesterday I even tried to get you a job. And this is how I'm repaid. No one else wants you Sakura. No one cares about you. All you have in this world is me. You're hideous and lazy and stupid. You're an ungrateful little whore. If you run away no one else would care for you, you have no where else to go. You see Sakura, you have to stay here. This is your home. So this is where you will stay."

Sakura started to cry as her mother's cruel words sank in. She thought of Megumi and Hotohori and Miss. Emika who was supposed to protect her, and the school. And then she realized she was alone, no one would come for her; her mother's words were true.

"Don't you see, Sakura? I speak the truth. No matter what that woman told you, you're all alone now, no one will come for you except for me. I'm all you have. Don't you see? Don't you understand?" her mother said slowly letting the words full of poisonous lies sink in.

Sakura nodded believing the horrible lies her mother told.

"Good girl. Now repeat after me."

Sakura nodded again.

"This is my home, so this is where I will stay."

Sakura whimpered, not wanting to say it. Her mother glared at her and then kicked her shin when she didn't get the reaction her mother wanted. When Sakura said nothing still, she kicked Sakura's thigh twice, in the same spot, then once more. Sakura mumbled the words.

"Louder," her mother commanded.

"This is my home," Sakura said trying to hold back the tears, "So this is where I will stay."

Her mother nodded in approval and the said, "Now repeat – I'm worthless, so no one will come, no one will save me. I'm all alone."

Sakura started to cry visualizing Hotohori and remember his promises and gentle words, comforting eyes, and sensual face. Her mother kicked her thigh again.

"I'm worthless, so no one will come, no one will save me. I'm all alone."

"Good girl. Now say – I'm an ungrateful little whore. Go on."

Sakura gulped and said, "I'm an ungrateful little whore."

Her mother nodded a cruel smile on her face.

"One more, repeat – I will do what ever my mother tells me to. I will obey her every word."

Sakura looked at her mother, afraid to say it, afraid not to. Her mother looked at her expectantly and drew back her leg. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't say them. Her mother kicked her again and again in the same spot in her thigh until she said, crying, and "I will do what ever my mother tells me to. I will obey her every word."

"Good girl," her mother said and slammed the door closed. Sakura heard the lock click and her mother walk away. She huddled in the corner. '_I could've had a better chance at life. I could have been happy. But Miss. Emika just left me here. I'll never see my only friend again. I'll never see her smile or flirt with Nuriko. And Hotohori; I'll never see his kind gentle eyes, feel his gentle hands or hear his kind words. Ever again. I'm all alone now, and it hurts more than ever because I know how happy I could have been,_" Sakura thought.

Sakura started to cry. Her body hurt more from her mother's beating, and the darkness was starting to close in and take her. But this time she didn't care. She wanted to forget her pain. The hyperventilating started and she faded into the darkness.

When Sakura awoke she saw the light from outside the closet. She saw her mother's shadow pass occasionally and heard her footsteps as she walked around. Her melodious cold voice and laugh sounded through the house and a man's deep voice answered hers. Sakura sighed and extended her legs. '_How long have I been in here? Is it the next day? When will I be let out? I suppose she is still angry at me so I'll be lucky to get food today. That means I'll be in here for a few days probably not more than that. But the food won't be a problem, I'm not hungry, and even if I did eat, I might throw up,_' Sakura thought. She drew her knees back up and put her arms loosely around them. She rested her head on the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

The door opened suddenly and Sakura blinked her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden light. Her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She dragged her out of the closet and towards the bathroom. When she was in the bathroom her mother said, "Do the things you need to do for the day. And be quick about it," and slammed the door.

Sakura heard her mother's voice and a male voice outside of the door. She began to panic and a chill ran down her spine as she remembered her last experience in this house. She slowly brushed her teeth and washed her face with shaking hands. She heard the door to the outside world slam shut and the lock click. Her mother had left her alone in the house with a man. A man she didn't know, a man who could overpower her in a second. She bit her lip and thought, '_I can't escape it. There's no way I can. I should probably just get it over with._'

She used the toilet for the day, flushed it, and washed her hands. She started shaking uncontrollably; she knocked on the door, so she would be let out. The door opened and revealed the same man from that night. She whimpered in fear.

_(the morning before)_

Hotohori had been feeling uneasy all last night and this morning. It started about an hour after Miss. Emika had taken Sakura. During his first period class he had not paid attention, the teacher yelled at him and assigned him extra homework. He walked through the hall ways to his next class, each minute passing making him feel more and more uneasy.

He walked into his next class and remembered that he had a test. He sighed and went to his seat. He tried to cram, but the only thing that stayed in his mind was Sakura's face, her voice, her expressions.

"Clear off your desks," the teacher's voice rang out and she passed out the test. Nuriko eyed him curiously. Hotohori ignored him and glanced at the test.

'_I feel as though I need to be with Sakura; as though she needs me. I feel almost like she in trouble,_' he thought, worried.

He sneezed then, a jolt of energy shot though him and he jumped in his seat. He looked around the room. He had heard Sakura crying, and she was in pain. He felt Nuriko staring at his back. He closed his eyes and searched for her chi. He could barely feel it, but he couldn't follow it, she must be just out of his reach. He sat restlessly in his seat thinking, '_I know she's in trouble, or needs me. But she should be safe, she was with Miss. Emika. What had gone wrong? Was she separated from Miss. Emika?_' He became worried, and he couldn't concentrate or get rid of that feeling.

There was a knock on the door and the teacher stepped out for a moment. Nuriko leaned up and whispered in Hotohori's ear, "What's up with you! You're acting really odd lately, ever since last night now that I think about it."

"It's Sakura, she needs us. I heard her crying, and she's in pain. She needs our help."

Nuriko looked at him oddly, and sat back in his seat. The teacher came back in with a tall man in a suit. His black hair was cut short and his blue eyes were piercing. He was the boy's advisor and Miss. Emika's partner.

"I need Hotohori, Nuriko, and Megumi to come with me. Bring your bags, you won't be coming back. You are taking the tests later," he said.

The three of them glanced at each at other and packed their bags. They got up and followed him out of the classroom.

"Quickly go to your rooms and pack your bags, for two nights. Meet me in front of the school in five minutes. I'll explain later."

The three students turned and practically ran to their rooms. Megumi dumped her bag out on the bed and shoved clothing in it. She grabbed her tooth brush, tooth paste, and make up from the bathroom and shoved it into her bag. She quickly changed out of her uniform and put on bondage pants and a black shirt, zipped her bag and ran out of the door.

Hotohori and Nuriko ran to their room as well, Sakura not leaving Hotohori's thoughts, and Nuriko still very confused. When they got in the room they both dumped their bags out and stuffed clothing in their bags. Hotohori grabbed the tooth brushes and tooth paste from the bathroom. The both quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt. While they changed Nuriko asked, "How did you know?"

"We don't know. Does it matter? All that matters to us is Sakura needs us, and she's in trouble. We're ready, let's go," Hotohori and then zipped his bag. Nuriko also zipped his bag and the both of them ran out the door. Hotohori ran back, and grabbed his katana from the corner near the door.

Hotohori, Nuriko, and Megumi stood panting in the front of the building waiting for everything to be explained. Hotohori looked nervous and on edge. He kept shifting his feet, his eyes looking far off. Nuriko watched his friend, not sure what to think, and Megumi watched the both of them, and then said, "Okay you two, what's going on?"

They looked at each other then at her, not sure what to say.

"I know something's going on, so don't even try to hide it from me!"

Nuriko avoided Megumi's eye and Hotohori didn't move. Megumi raised her eyebrows, and said, "You're not going to tell me, Nuriko-"

"It's Sakura," Hotohori said in a quiet voice, "Sakura is in trouble. She is in pain, and afraid. She needs our help."

Megumi stared at him disbelievingly then said slowly, "But how do you know? How could you know? Sakura's with Miss. Emika, and she doesn't have a cell phone and neither do you. So how the fuck do you know!"

"How should we know! We just know. She should be safe because she's with Miss. Emika, but something must have gone wrong. What could have happened to put her in danger? What changed to put her in danger, to make her afraid?"

"Do you think it's a new ability? To be able to sense someone's emotions?" Nuriko asked carefully.

"No. We cannot feel either of your emotions, or anyone else's; just Sakura's. And it's not even her emotions. We feel her pain, and any strong thing she is feeling, it's not really emotions."

The three friends were confused by Hotohori's sudden ability that only allowed for him to know what Sakura was feeling.

"Please don't tell anyone about this yet. We'll ask Chichiri about it later, but until then, don't tell anyone."

Nuriko and Megumi nodded, agreeing not to tell anyone. The three friends stood in silence. Nuriko and Megumi stood close together, their fingers intertwined. Hotohori shifted from foot to foot still worried about Sakura. He was tense, his body ready to snap at any moment.

Mr. Yusuke, Miss Emika's partner who was in charge of the boy's dorm, walked over to the three friends. Hotohori shifted into a protective stance and put his hand on the hilt of the katana. He quieted his breath so he could hear the sound of feet on pavement come closer and closer. He heard people call his name, but he pushed that away. Sakura was all that matter to him and all that would always matter. He tightened his grip on the hilt and looked up at the person walking towards him. He was surprised it was Mr. Yusuke and dropped his stance immediately. He felt Nuriko and Megumi staring at him strangely, and Mr. Yusuke looked at him questioningly.

"Sorry sir, we were just practicing our swordsmanship," Hotohori said then bowing slightly.

"It's alright Hotohori. But come, follow me," he said and started walking away from the school. The three students followed him, Hotohori wondering what had come over him. Why had he almost attacked Mr. Yusuke? He was helping them rescue Sakura. What was wrong with him? Things were too confusing now.

They followed him to a large black bus. The doors opened and Mr. Yusuke gestured them inside. There was a small kitchenette with a table, mini-fridge, cabinets, and a microwave.

"The cabinets are full and so is the mini-fridge. There are plates and utensils of some kind in the cabinets," he told the students, "Megumi, lead us into the next room," Megumi walked into the next room which had a couch on the left wall and a television on the right wall. Next to the couch, in the corner, there were bunk beds, the other set next to the television in opposite corners. "In the kitchenette there is also a CD player and there are CDs and DVDs here somewhere. Each of you get a bed, and you are to stay in the kitchenette or this room. There is a bathroom beyond this room as well," he pointed to a door across from the other door that lead to the kitchenette. "So you are restricted to the kitchenette, your bedroom, and the bathroom."

"Yes sir," the three students said together.

"You will be meeting Miss. Emika when you get there. I must stay and run the school," he said and turned to go.

"Wait! Isn't Miss. Emika with Sakura?" Megumi asked.

"Yes. Well, no. She was. You three are going to help Miss. Emika rescue Sakura. You three were chosen not for your abilities but your connection with Sakura. Now I must go, and you won't be gone for more than four of five days. Good luck," he said and left.

Hotohori sat on the couch, disbelievingly. He has wished he was just being paranoid and protective, but he wasn't. While he sat on the couch, shocked, Nuriko and Megumi claimed the set of bunk beds on the right side of the room; Megumi on the top bunk and Nuriko on the bottom one. They each lay on their bunk watching Hotohori. He sat unmoving staring off at the wall, his eyes glazed over. Megumi climbed down and lay next to Nuriko and he wrapped his arms protectively around her.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked quietly.

"He's probably in shock. He really likes Sakura, and he obviously is protective of her now. And then there's the fact that he knew that she was in trouble. He's got a lot on his mind, and I guarantee most of it's about Sakura," Nuriko whispered back to her.

"You know…Sakura really likes Hotohori too. She just needs time, time to recover, and time to heal her scars. Her whole like has been traumatic, since her father left, but it seems as though this year it has become worse and the last two days the worst than ever before. Make sure he knows to give her time. She may like him, but she does need time."

"I'm sure he'll give her all the time she needs, and in the meantime do as much for her as he can. He would never do anything to hurt her, and if he did, he would feel so guilty and never forgive himself."

Megumi smiled, and then whispered, "They can heal each other; teach each other love and trust. They will be good for each other."

"If they don't break each others heart first. Both of their hearts are fragile, but broken. So if one thing is done or said wrong, they could kill each other. Am I right?"

Megumi nodded and snuggled up closer to Nuriko and Nuriko tightened his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "Don't worry my love, I'm not going anywhere. And I won't let you go anywhere either." Megumi turned her head and smiled lovingly and softly at him and turned her body and head for a kiss, he of course obliged. Their kisses went from soft to passionate as they forgot their surroundings and their friend also in the room with them.

His eyes again were full of lust. But this time they had other emotions as well: anger, hate, violence. Sakura shuddered, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind her and pushed her up against closed door. He stepped closer to her and she pressed herself up against the door. He took another step and pressed himself against her. She shuddered and she could smell the toxic smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke on him. He put his face so close to hers that they were almost touching, and he blew out his breath into her face that has the stench of hard alcohol and cigarette smoke. When the smell reached her nose she coughed and sputtered, trying to get fresh air. He laughed coldly. She looked at him fearfully, knowing some kind of punishment was coming.

"Don't worry my dear," he whispered cruelly, "My instructions are not to touch you but I shall have my time, I am promised to be your first. However, I am allowed to teach you a lesson."

He raised his arm and hissed, "Bitch, slut, cunt, whore, how dare you run away from me! You are no one special. No one wants you, no one like you. You're hideous." Drops of saliva hit her face and she tried hard not to grimace. After he was done hissing the insulting words he back handed her. The back of his hand hit her upper cheek and corner of her right eye. The tears welled up in her violet eyes and spilled over on to her cheeks but she did not cry out in pain.

"You stupid bitch! You didn't feel that? It didn't hurt you? Are you too stupid to feel that? You're so fucking dumb god damn!"

Sakura just stared at him, her large violet eyes unblinking and tears running down her face. He grabbed her wrist and flung her against the wall. When she hit the wall she winced in pain and crumpled to the floor. He pulled her on her feet by her wrist again and flung her in a corner. This time she hit her head and then crumpled to the floor, she whimpered in pain and was crying softly. She saw his feet walk over towards her and stop. He pulled one of his feet back then Sakura closed her eyes not wanting to know what was going to happen. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach and then blacked out.

When Sakura awoke she was in the dark and her whole body hurt. After her eyes adjusted she could see she was back in the closet and was sprawled out on the floor, like some one threw her there carelessly. She tried to sit up and found it hurt to even move. She inched over to her usual corner and curled up still laying down; and she wondered what was going to happen to her. Was she to live out the rest of her days in a closet, getting beaten and raped every day and not getting fed? Was she ever going to be let out, be free from her wooden cage? She couldn't live her life like this. She didn't want to be a prisoner her entire life, who would want to be?

Sakura had no sense of time in her wooden prison. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours, hours felt like day, and days felt like years. She saw the hall light flicker on and off occasionally and people's feet walk past her closet prison. Once she heard the rain pound on the roof and thunder crash and it soothed her to sleep, and of course when she awoke the storm had passed. Usually what she heard was sounds of pleasure coming from her mother and the different men she brought home. The moans disgusted her and she always tried to drown them out, without success.

But the thing she did most in the closet was think, about her past, her future, wonder what was going to happen to her. Think about the few friends she had made, Megumi, Nuriko, perhaps, and of course Hotohori. Wondering if they missed her or noticed she was gone. She wondered how her life would have been if she had stayed at the school.

'_It was the best and worst thing being taken to the school_,' Sakura thought, '_The best because it showed me how supposed "normal" life could be. And even if it was less than a day, I had friends. People cared about me, and I felt happy, even if it was just for a night. I have a few good memories to reminisce over. The worst part was that now that I was happy everything seems worse. I know I could have been happy; I was almost free of my mother, my closet prison, my life of torture. I could have been free of it all. It has always been torture to sit in here day after day, but now I have seen how good life can be so it is even more torture now. I hate this, being in here not knowing what's happening in the outside world, not knowing how much time has passed, or what time of day it is. Why me? Why was I chosen to be tortured so? Things would be better if my supposed mother loved me, even liked me. Right now, I'm a burden, a skeleton in her closet. Literally, as I'll soon be a skeleton. I mean I'm not getting food or water, so I'll die soon._'

Sakura smiled.

'_I'll be put out of my misery, free from pain, disappointment. Perhaps death isn't something to dread. Death will set me free, give me wings so I'll be able to fly. Fly away from everything and everyone I hate. I can look down on the world from the sky. No one can hurt me in death, and no one will miss me. My mother will be happy, she won't have anything to tie her down, and she'll be able to do anything she wants. And Megumi and Nuriko and even Hotohori have probably already forgotten me. So I won't cause them any pain._'

At the thought of the people she held close to her soul and heart forgetting her, she started to cry. She cried until there were no more tears left and the sobs came dry. She sat up, even though it hurt and curled up in her usual corner, trying to think of anything but the school and Megumi and Nuriko, but most of all Hotohori.

Time passed, day by day. Sakura was let out of the closet twice a day; once in the morning and once at night. She was allowed to go to the bathroom and wash her hands. She was given no food or water. Whenever her mother let her out she would get hit and kicked. When the young man she was "promised" to let her out she was hit, groped, and forcefully kissed. She began wishing for death, wishing it would come soon, and be quick and painless. A few times, suicide crossed her mind but she was always watched and could never get hold of a knife, pills, or poison, so of course, suicide wasn't an option. She supposed that it had been two or three days that she had been locked up, but it had seemed so much longer than that. She also supposed that she would die soon. She wasn't given water or food, so she was becoming weak, and had no will to live; her body was giving up, not that she cared. She almost wished that it would give up sooner than later.

But part of her, even if it was a tiny part had hope. Hope that Hotohori would come and rescue her. It was that hope, that wish that kept her alive, day to day. It kept her from slitting her wrists or taking poison (if she could get it in the first place). It was what saved her but what tortured her. She hated it but loved it. She knew it was a very unlikely wish to come true, she knew she wished in vain, that he would never come for her, but she didn't give up on that dream. Dreaming about Hotohori's rescue comforted her, the only thing that gave her comfort, even if it was a tiny thing. Remembering him caused her pain but also comfort and she refused to forget him.

Everyday, she would think of the school, and gorgeous Megumi, dedicated Nuriko, beautiful, kind Hotohori, and the other people that she had met at the lunch table. The loud quirky Tasuki, the nice green eyed Danieru. And the other girls she barely knew. Everyone had seemed so nice, happy and full of life. Except for the wolf man and the horribly annoying Miaka, she was glad to get away from them. But she would rather be around them to be with Hotohori, than be here without him.

"How can I just sit and do nothing when I know Sakura is suffering! She is locked up somewhere and being beaten, and maybe even raped, and we are just around the corner yet you expect me to just sit here and do nothing!" Hotohori yelled, "We have all sat here for the past three days, doing nothing, while Sakura is suffering. We are supposed to be helping her, and rescuing her! I can't just sit here and wait anymore when I know she's in pain!"

Nuriko and Megumi stood behind Hotohori, who had finally lost his patience and was yelling at Miss. Emika. He had been anxious to rescue her from her house of hell, but Miss. Emika hadn't told them when they were going to rescue her, or why they haven't made a move to rescue her.

"Hotohori, I need you to sit down and calm down. I'm getting worried as well. We have to make our move when no one is home so we don't involve civilians if possible. If we do involve her mother and the other people at the house that will create unneeded problems. Please calm down; we will rescue her as soon as we can. I don't like the idea of her being abused either. But we have no choice but to wait. I know that it's hard but we must wait. And Hotohori, don't let your feelings get involved; this is a mission. If you let your feelings get in the way, then you will not be selected for future missions. Do you understand?"

Hotohori shot a glare at her but he knew he had been defeated, so he said, "Yes ma'am we understand."

"Good now all three of you calm down and I'll let you know when we are going to get Sakura."

The three of them nodded and Miss. Emika walked out of the room. Hotohori sighed and sat down on the couch and looking defeated and depressed. Megumi and Nuriko watched him, helpless to stop his behavior. For the past three days, he had sat on the couch and stared into space. Nothing could move him. He would sit there all day while Nuriko and Megumi listened to music, watched movies and TV, took walks, and made food for the three of them. Not that he would eat the food that they would prepare. Nuriko even had to yell at him and force the food down his throat.

The fourth night that they had been away from school Miss. Emika knocked on the door and opened it. She was wearing jeans and a dark colored shirt. The three students stared at her, never seeing her in jeans before this since she was always in nice business suits.

"Let's go. We can't wait any more. You all must follow my orders perfectly. Change into dark clothes. Be ready in 15 minutes," she ordered and closed the door. Megumi was in all black so she went in the kitchenette so the guys could change. While in the kitchen she unhooked the chains and straps on her pants and took them off. She pulled her long dark hair up and she was ready to go. Hotohori and Nuriko both put on a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt. Hotohori pulled back his hair and grabbed his katana. They met Megumi and Miss. Emika in the kitchenette. Miss. Emika stared at Hotohori and said, "No way. Put that katana back. You cannot take it." Hotohori sighed. He returned it to the bedroom and came back without it.

"Okay ready to go?" Miss. Emika asked.

"Yes ma'am," said the three students in unison.

"Alright, let's go. Now follow my orders, we don't know what weapons they have, or their fighting ability, and we don't want anyone to get hurt or anything worse."

The three students nodded.

"Then let's be on our way," she said and walked out the door. Hotohori, Megumi, and Nuriko followed her out the door and onto the street, to Sakura's house and up the steps to the door.

Hotohori's heart was pounding and his blood racing to be going to rescue Sakura. He felt the adrenaline pumping through his body. He was excited but afraid of what he would see. He just wanted to find Sakura and hold her close and tell her everything would be okay. His heart was pounding so much when Megumi was picking the lock, he was surprised that no one else heard it. The door crashed open and the four of them walked in. He felt Sakura presence in it as a little girl. But it wasn't a suitable home for her. Everything was beaten up around them. There were a few holes in the plaster wall; the floors that were once white were now a worn gray with dust piles in the corners. There were piles of dirty dishes in the sink and cabinet doors left open. As they walked through the house they found dirty clothes flung all over the house. Hotohori felt a guilty pang in his chest, remembering his own home. As they walked into the hallway Hotohori's heart went wild and started beating faster and louder than he ever thought was possible. He had strange butterflies in his stomach and he knew Sakura was here somewhere, they just had to find where.

Sakura was awoken by a large crash. She supposed her mother or one of her customers was maybe a little too drunk and knocked something into something and knocked it over. Maybe she would be let out to clean it up, but she doubted it.

"Okay," she heard a female voice which wasn't her mother's say, "We need to work quickly. So Nuriko, you watch to see if anyone's coming. Megumi, you find her room, then find a suitcase and pack her bag, or at least start. You and I will look for her," she said to the last person, then she added, "Oh, and Nuriko let me know immediately if any one is coming up the steps."

"Yes ma'am, I will," a young man's voice said.

Since Sakura was so weak the names that she had heard didn't stir any memories tied to the school. She was weak, malnourished, cold, and tired. So of course when she heard the names Nuriko and Megumi together, it didn't revive any memories however current they were. Besides she couldn't leave, she had promised her mother.

Sakura heard the people looking around for something. They were opening and closing doors and walking around the house. Once in a while she would hear someone pace up and down the hallway. Once, the person stopped in front of her closet door. They stood there for about five minutes, before they said, "She is so close, and we can feel it. She's near here, we know it," in a very familiar voice and then walked away. Before long the person was back to pacing the hallway.

But that wasn't what was bothering her; she was thinking about the voice that she had heard and sounded so familiar. '_That voice, it's so familiar. Where is it from? Where do I know it from? It's not a bad memory the voice is so gentle and kind. Just like Hotohori's. HOTOHORI! What is he doing here? He couldn't be here; he's supposed to be in school! Not to rescue me, it couldn't be. I have to be dreaming; this has to be a dream._'

Her mother's cruel words ran through her head, then her promise to stay where she was. '_So even if he was here for me, which he isn't, I couldn't leave. But why would he come to rescue me? I'm worthless, no one cares about me. No one, he can't be here for me._' The thought was painful one but realistic in Sakura's mind. She sat up and curled herself up in a ball into the corner and closed her eyes trying to stop the tears, '_He's not here. Hotohori is not here. He's at school safe and happy. He's not here! He can't be here!_' She pictured him with Nuriko and Megumi in the gardens, going from class to class, and sitting in the cafeteria with his friends.

The person was pacing the hallway again, nonstop. Then they stopped in front of the closet door. She saw their shadow and she supposed they were staring that the door. A few minutes later the door knob shook; and she heard muttered curses. The door shook more violently this time.

"Megumi! Megumi!" Someone called, "Can you pick this lock?"

"Yea. I actually have a bobby pin on me. Give me a second."

A minute later Sakura heard the tumblers fall into place and the door unlocked. Sakura started to breathe fast and her heart began to pound.

"Thanks Megumi," the voice said.

"No problem," the girl Megumi said and Sakura heard her walk away.

The door knob turned and Sakura was sure that the person outside the door could hear her heart beat. It was all she could hear and her breath come in short shallow breaths. The door opened and Sakura was blinded buy the light. She saw a tall figure standing over her. She gasped and her eyes became wide with shock.

"You came…" she whispered in an astonished voice.

"Of course I came. I couldn't leave you here. Come on; let's get you out of there."

"No! I can't leave. I can never leave. I'm alone forever. I can't leave with you. Go, now, before my mother comes back."

"I will not leave without you. I refuse to. I cane to rescue you Sakura, you're not alone. You have me, and Megumi, and Nuriko are there for you too. You're not alone."

"Go Hotohori. I can't leave. I'm sorry, I wish I could but I can't."

"If you stay here you are going to waste away and die."

"I know."

"I won't let you die."

"Hotohori, go, please go. I'll be punished because you're here."

"You're coming with us. I will not leave you," he said and crouched down, and looked into her eyes, "Sakura, I felt your pain, your fear. I refuse to leave you here. I'm sorry, and I don't want to hurt you. I will protect you this time, I swear to you I will"

"Hotohori," she said her voice full of pain, "Please, don't make this harder then it has to be."

Hotohori sighed then chuckled, "You're so stubborn." He stood up and took the one step he could towards her. He knelt down and put one arm behind her back and the other under her knees; and picked her up. She started struggling and said, "Hotohori, put me down! Put me down now! I can't leave. I promised her I would stay. Let me go! Put me down! Please, let me down." Despite her protests he held her firmly. Sakura was weak from malnutrition and her struggling wasn't effective so she gave up on struggling after a minute and she was out of breath.

"Are you finished doing that?" Hotohori asked her. She glared at him then looked down. He chuckled and walked away down the hallway towards her room. As he walked into Sakura's room he said, "Look what we found."

Megumi turned around and saw Sakura in Hotohori's arms and a large smile spread across her face. She ran to them and hugged Sakura.

"Oh my god! Sakura! I was so worried! I'm so glad you're safe. What happened, you look horrible. What did he or she do to you! I'll kill 'em, kill them both!" she said all very fast because she was so excited to see her best friend again.

Sakura didn't react to seeing her friend again. She was still limp in Hotohori's arms. Megumi's face fell with a hurt look in her eyes.

"Sakura?" she asked gently, "Sakura don't you remember me?"

Sakura still didn't say or do anything. Megumi looked away then sighed. She has thought she had made a good friend, but maybe she just needed time, but Megumi didn't want to wait. Hotohori placed Sakura gently on her feet and told her, "Go help Megumi pack your bags. Pack everything that you need, you're not coming back here. I need to go tell Nuriko and Miss. Emika I found you, so I'll be right back. I'm just going in the other room," gently.

When Sakura nodded he seemed satisfied and he left the room. Sakura stood exactly where Hotohori had placed her and didn't move. She stared down at the floor and her hair created a dark curtain which shielded her from Megumi who was trying to study her. Sakura knew she was supposed to be packing but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"Sakura," Megumi said gently, "Sakura you really should pack. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. So please pack."

For a few seconds Sakura acted as though Megumi had never said anything, but then without a warning she walked over to her dresser and began pulling out bras and underwear and then walking over to her bed and putting them into her bag. She repeated the steps with shirts, then walked over to her closet and removed more shirts, put them in her bag and returned to the closet for pants. She returned to the closet once more and pulled out two black sweatshirts and put them in her suitcase also. A large messenger bag came out of nowhere and she began filling it with books, notebooks, and CDs. She walked out of the room and returned with a makeup bag and a toothbrush, some toothpaste, face wash, shampoo, and conditioner with Hotohori and Miss. Emika following her. She looked around her room, and then closed her bags.

"Are we ready to go?" Miss. Emika asked.

Sakura nodded and began to pick up her bag but Miss. Emika said, "No, you cannot carry that. I don't want you to exhaust yourself. Nuriko!" Nuriko came into the room a few seconds later, and Miss. Emika told him, "Nuriko you take her suitcase, and Megumi you take her messenger bag. Hotohori you follow me, and carry Sakura. Nuriko you bring up the end. Let's go."

Hotohori picked up Sakura and followed Miss. Emika, while Megumi followed Hotohori and Nuriko at the end following Megumi. They went through the hallway and into the kitchen. They walked to the door. Sakura's escape was so close when then kitchen door swung open and Sakura's mother and two other men stepped in the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N-**Poor Sakura, she was sooo close. shakes head sadly Sooo what's going to happen now! O the suspense of it all! At least she has Hotohori and Megumi to support her now. But they have quite a job of unbrain washing her, don't you think?

And to explain Megumi calling Sakura her best friend, you have to think about the characters. Yes, they might have met a few days ago Sakura has never hada friend before and Megumi, she says best friends because she's never had to take care of anyone like Sakura before so she's never cared about one of her friends this much before. I hope that makes sense.

And now for Megumi's profile

**Name:** Megumi

**Age:** 16

**Height:** 5'8 or 5'9

**Eyes: **red, lined with silver and black (usually has eyeliner on)

**Hair:** long and black...straight

**Complexion: **a bit on the pale side, but not sickly, never-been-out-in-the-sun pale

**Personality: **sarcastic, moody (one minute, happy, the next...violent (is violence an emotion, because it is now!),fiercely protective ofher friends.When she getsangry, it's most likely going to be the silent treatment or justplain cold staring at someone.

**Abilities: **has wings that are able to make her feel other's pain and be able to cause pain on someone else/transfer the pain she's feeling.

There you have it folks! See you next time! And I have 12 written pages of Chapter Nine, I just have to start typing them and finish writing the chapter.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer-**I do not own Fushigi Yugi.

**A/n-**Alright, well it took long enough to update huh? Sorry about that, my beta and I had exams and such so it took longer than I wanted. But it's a great way to start off the summer right? Please don't kill me! Well, you should be happy, because this chapter is insanly long, so there, I made up for it. It was like 15 pages typed or something like that. That's A LOT! Here go guys go! Thanks for reading up this far, and staying loyal readers even though the update periods have a long wait. I appreciate it a lot. ButI don't think I'll be updating this for a while, I'm working on a Rurouni Kenshin story right now, trying to get the first couple of chapters of that written. But it's summer now, so maybe I'll get another couple chapters out. Hopefully. Well for now enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Sakura's mother eyes widened in shock to see a woman, two teenagers, and her daughter in her kitchen. Her eyes went from shock to enrage in a split second. Miss. Emika reacted quickly, while Arisa could barely react in her drunken enraged state.

"Hotohori! Get Sakura out of here! Go to the bus and STAY THERE WITH HER! Megumi, take the bag from Nuriko and go with them. Nuriko help me hold them back!" she directed them.

Nuriko gave the bag to Megumi and ran around her, Hotohori, and Sakura and held the three people away from the door. As soon as the door was clear Hotohori and Megumi bolted through it and ran for the bus. The driver opened the door to the bus and they ran up the stairs.

"Lock it," Hotohori shouted out of breath. Megumi put Sakura's bags in the bedroom and Hotohori placed Sakura in a chair in the kitchen. He got three glasses down from the cabinet and poured water into all three. He placed one in front of Sakura.

"Drink," he told her, then went to give one to Megumi. He came back empty handed took the other glass for himself and sat down across from her, and watched her. Sakura looked at her full glass of water, then glanced at Hotohori, then looked down at her lap.

"Sakura," Hotohori said in a pleading voice that made her look at him, "Please drink some water. You're going to die if you don't. Please drink. You can take as long as you want to finish it, but just please drink some. I'm begging you. You are so weak already I couldn't bare to see you die, please drink."

"I'm sorry, I'm not thirsty," she said in a whisper.

"Please, please drink," he begged.

She shook her head, and looked back down at her lap. He heaved a sigh and took a sip of his own water. Megumi walked into the room. She studied the situation, and knew exactly what she needed to do. She immediately took control of the situation.

"Hotohori, you can't beg her. It's her choice to drink the water or not, because it's her choice to live or die. They way she looks at the moment I don't think she cares whether she lives or died. I wouldn't be too happy with life if I had just gotten locked in a closet for a few days. I wouldn't care if I died. At the moment she probably would prefer to die. If she has no will to live, she will die."

"No! She won't die! She cannot die; we couldn't live with ourselves if she died. We care more about Sakura more than anyone! We love her. And we refuse to lose the person we care about most."

"But that isn't your choice! Whether she lives or dies or dies is her choice. Only she can control whether she lives or dies. And no amount of begging or bribing will change that fact. It's her life and she is in charge of it."

Hotohori shook his head trying to deny the painful fact. He wanted to place Sakura's delicate body and hold her close in his arms so she would never slip away. He would tell her how much he loved her and how he would protect her and never let anything happen to her ever again. Then he would her to please live because without her, he wouldn't be anything and he wouldn't be able to live. He might not die right away, but how could he live if the love of his life was dead. He would be numb to feeling, he would be a walking shell, and his soul would die without being near the perfection of her soul. '_I want to protect her more than anything else, keep her safe from harm and pain. I want her to feel loved and needed. I want to make her happy. I want her to be safe, protected, happy, loved, and needed…with or without me. I would trade my happiness, my life for hers, her and no one else's. I want to tell her how much I love her, unconditionally._'

"I'm sorry Hotohori, I wish I could change that fact, but I can't. I want to, just as much as you do. I care about her too," Megumi said sadly after a few minutes of silence.

"Can't you though? With your wings?"

Megumi shook her head.

"Why not!" Hotohori demanded.

"I refused to play tricks on Sakura to make her want to live. I care too much about her and I respect her too much," she said firmly, "I want to help, but not that way."

"But…"he said hopelessly.

"No, I can't. I refuse to."

He looked at Sakura who hadn't moved since he placed her there. She looked lifeless, she stared straight ahead, and her bangs covered her left eye. The glass of water was still untouched. It was also the first time he had ever seen her slouch. He hated seeing her broken like that, but he nodded. Megumi sat next to her and whispered into her ear so Hotohori couldn't hear what she was saying.

"Sakura, we cannot force you to drink or eat. We can give you feed and water, but we can not force you to drink or eat them. We want you to eat and drink so you are healthy. We care about you Sakura, and even though I met you this week I consider you one of my best friends, and I would hate to lose you. I know life is hard, we all do. I care about you, and you must know Hotohori loves you. Don't believe the horrible poisonous lies your mother or that man told you. They will never be true. Your life there has ended, you have everything you need from there now, and you won't have to go back. Now you can truly forget, and let the wounds and scars heal. We care about you, we saved you. And everyone is waiting for your return to you can join them. You are safe now. You are free to o a you choose, live or die. Although we prefer if you live."

After Megumi finished whispering to Sakura, Sakura's eyes started tearing and she squeezed her eyes shut and large hot tears rolled down her cheeks and hit her legs. She looked down at her lap and her shoulders started shaking. Megumi put her arms around Sakura's shoulders and with the kindness of Megumi's words and actions she broke down crying completely. Sakura put her head on Megumi's shoulder and cried harder than she ever had before. Megumi held her tightly and whispered in her ear, "It's okay now Sakura, you're safe. But go ahead and cry everyone needs a good cry. Shhhhh…" in a soothing voice while stroking her head in a motherly manner.

For a few minutes Sakura cried softly into Megumi's shoulder. Hotohori saw that he wasn't needed so he went into the bedroom and sat down on the couch in defeat. He slouched and looked down at his lap; his hair fell so it covered his face completely from side view. He closed his eyes in frustration and he saw Sakura in the closet, in pain, felt her frail frame in his arms, he saw her crying. He clenched his fists in anger at the people who made her life hell and her, physically and mentally. He took a deep breath and let it go, trying to calm himself down so her wouldn't upset Sakura.

He felt a soft pressure on his shoulder and he heard a soft voice say his name. His head snapped up and he found Sakura looking at him with a concerned look on her face and a hand on his shoulder. He looked up into her face which showed a bit of pain and concern, but no other emotions showing on her otherwise inscrutable face. She smiled at him with a hesitant shy smile and sat down next to him with a bit of space in between them. He noticed this and took it as a sign that we still was nervous and uncomfortable around him and didn't fully trust him. It pained him to realize that but he kept his distance to respect her feelings.

"I drank the water," she said vacillatingly.

Hotohori looked at her and she blushed and nodded. A soft fond smile appeared on his face and he said to her softly, "I'm glad." An awkward deafening silence filled the room and; neither of them knew what to say to fill it. Hotohori wanted to make her pain go disappear and hold her beautiful delicate body in his arms. She needed her space though, and he would give her as much as she needed. Sakura was nervous, she knew he was kind and gentle, but he looked frustrated and angry. She was afraid that she had done something to offend him, but wasn't sure how to apologize. He had saved hare and then she had ignored him; he had every right to be angry with her. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to apologize to him.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled so softly Hotohori didn't hear her.

"Hmm?" Hotohori said, "We couldn't hear you."

She looked up at him for she had been looking down at her lap. Her violet eye we wide and fearful, and she shuddered involuntarily.

"Sakura? What's wrong? Are you afraid of something?" he asked gently.

She shuddered again and nodded. Then she looked back down at her lap and her dark wavy hair formed a curtain shielding her face form him.

"What are you afraid of?"

Sakura shook her head and more of her dark hair fell over her shoulder making the curtain thicker. He opened his mouth his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again and said, "Are you afraid of me?" Sakura froze; Hotohori felt her body tense up.

"Sakura?" Hotohori asked gently, "I won't be upset at you, just please tell the truth. Are you afraid of me?"

She shook her head and then paused for a second and nodded. He closed his eyes in pain and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't let her go fearing him.

"Sakura, you need to listen to me, pay attention, and please, look at me," he pleaded.

Sakura looked at him trying not to show him the fear in her eyes. Hotohori could tell she was nervous and frightened. She avoided his eyes and hid her left eye behind her bangs.

"Please, Sakura, I know you're afraid, but I don't want you to be, but I'm not angry at you. I don't want you to fear me. So please look at me and please don't avoid my eyes," he said gently.

Sakura looked up and Hotohori sought out her eyes, and when he found them, their eyes locked. He reached his hands out to her hands slowly and gently but she flinched still when he touched her hands. He wrapped his large hands slowly and gently around her smaller hands protectively, and as he did this he spoke to her gently, "Sakura, these hands will never hurt you. They will always protect you and be kind to you. I promise. You should never have to fear me. I could never yell at you or be angry at you. You must never fear me. I let you be hurt once, I wasn't there to protect you from your mother or that man, but I will never fail to protect you again." He paused then brought her hands up to his lips and said, "I promise," he kissed one hand softly, "to protect you," he kissed the other, "for as long as I live and forever after."

Sakura was speechless; she looked in his sensuous golden eyes. They were full of passion, conviction, and honesty. He was being completely honest, and strangely she couldn't help but trust him. She sat unmoving as she turned her many thoughts over in her head.

"Do you trust me?" Hotohori asked her gently, after a minute of silence.

Sakura took a deep breath and nodded, then said, "Yes, Hotohori, I trust you." He smiled gratefully and gave her hands a quick but gentle squeeze. She smiled shyly back at him. Being around people was still unnerving, after being abused and alone for four days. She leaned back on the couch and put her chin on her knees.

"I'm going to get some more water, would you like anything?" Hotohori asked gently as he stood up.

"Oh, ah no thank you, I can't take anything else right now," Sakura said quietly.

Hotohori nodded and walked out of the room and into the kitchen. She heard clinking glasses and the soft murmur of voices. She closed her eyes and tried to make out the words, but couldn't. The sound of voices stopped and Sakura supposed Hotohori was coming back into the room. She opened her eyes and saw him walk into the room with the two glasses of water, even though she had said she didn't want any. He had a gentle smile on, but disappeared and went to a shocked and concerned expression; he nearly dropped the glasses.

"Sakura," he exclaimed, "What happened to your leg?"

He rushed over to her and put the glasses on the floor next to the couch then knelt in front of her. He ran his hand over a large bruise on her thigh. It was dark blue and purple over a large welt. When he touched it and she winced in pain. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes in anger, but he kept his voice gentle and free from anger. Before he asked he opened his eyes and asked "How did this happen? Who did this to you?"

"This one must be from my mother kicking me; she did that a lot, and she made sure she was kicking in the same spot," she said in a quiet defeated voice.

"Do you have any other bruises or any other body parts hurt?"

"I don't know. But then my arm hurts, and the left side of my face. And it's hard to move my arm."

"May I see them?"

Sakura nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear and held her bangs out of her face. The whole left side of her face was badly bruised and he guessed from her mother and then men beating her. There was also a thin cut above her left eyebrow. He reached out and touched the bruises gently and ran over the cut with his thumb.

"Oh Sakura, I'm so sorry. I wasn't there to protect you. I let this happen to you. This is my entire fault," Hotohori said in a broken voice.

Sakura took his face in her hands and said, "Hotohori, this is no ones fault, especially not yours. You have been nothing but kind to me. Please, don't blame yourself for this."

"Where are the rest?" he asked gently.

She slipped off her jacket, and on her upper left arm there were blood stains. Sakura pushed up the left sleeve to reveal one bruised wrist and then pushed up her other sleeve to reveal another bruised wrist. Both bruises were wide rings around flesh. She slipped off the jacket and began to unbutton her shirt with a blush and tears in her eyes. Hotohori stopped her hands and said, "Sakura you don't have to show me those bruises," gently. Sakura shook her head and ignored his hands. When she was finished unbuttoning her shirt he could see almost all of her stomach and ribs were bruised. He could also see bruises peeking out over the top of her bra. When he saw this anger flared up inside of him. '_How dare anyone dare to try to defile her perfect body_,' Hotohori thought possessively, '_but in reality the bruises didn't affect her beauty at all. She was still as perfect and beautiful as ever._' Then Sakura slipped her left arm out of her the sleeve and there was a dark bruise shaped like a hand on her upper arm. Someone had obviously squeezed Sakura's arm too tight, so tight in fact that that their nails had dug into Sakura's flesh hard enough to break the skin and draw blood. There was dry blood stains on her flesh where the blood had trickled out of the wounds on her arm. Sakura slipped her arm back into the sleeve and began to button her shirt back up. Tears of shame silently fell from her here eyes on to her cheeks and lap. She slipped the jacket back on and, flipped her bangs back over her eye and looked down at her lap to hide her tears.

"Are there any more?"

Sakura nodded and lifted up her right leg and pushed down her knee socks to reveal one more large bruise on her shin. After a minute, Sakura pushed her sock back up and put her leg back down.

"That's all of them?" he asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Are you sure?"

She answered with another nod. He sighed and got up off the floor and sat next to her on the couch. He still gave her some space, but not as much as before. The silence between them was heavy and over whelming. Even though they had a bit of space between them Sakura could still feel how tense Hotohori was and the anger that was rolling off him; even though he was trying to hide it so he wouldn't upset Sakura in any way. When Sakura sensed the anger coming from Hotohori she became nervous at first, then she remembered his promise and his kind demeanor. She took a deep breath and tried her hardest to put her trust in him. It was the hardest thing she had done in a while, but something she wanted to do almost more than anything.

'_How dare they hurt Sakura. How dare they even place their dirty hands on her pure body_,' Hotohori thought furiously, '_Now she feels worthless, but she is opposite to that. She is a precious girl and no one could ever replace her. I should kill them for hurting her and making her think that horrible things about herself. They don't deserve to live. I don't know who should be punished more; her mother for abusing Sakura and saying horrible things all these years and making her life a living hell or, him for abusing her, touching her, and then trying to defile her._' The though of any man trying to force himself on her delicate body made his blood boil. '_I will protect her from everyone who means her harm, and I will kill any man who ever forces himself on her or touches her with her blessing. Now I need to calm down, I mustn't scare Sakura. I need to clear my mind._'

Hotohori took several deep slow breaths and closed his eyes so he could calm down and clear his mind easier. When we was calm again and had his strong emotions that revolved around Sakura in control her opened his eyes and looked at Sakura who was looking down at her lap like usual. Hotohori didn't want to ask and be rude, he didn't want to impose upon Sakura, but he had to know.

"Sakura, we are concerned, and we don't mean to be rude, but what did they do to you?" he asked gently.

Sakura looked at him with her large violet eyes wide.

"You don't have to tell us now; you can tell us when you are ready. But you need to talk about it eventually and get it off your chest so the memories don't eat away at you. And we just want to let you know we are here for you at any time night or day, when you need to talk about."

Sakura nodded and said quietly, "Thank you Hotohori. You are too kind to me."

"No we aren't. We are just as kind as any other person should be."

"Well I haven't received much kindness in my life," Sakura said bitterly.

"That's going to change," Hotohori said and flashed a smile at her.

"It's already changed," Sakura said seriously and looked straight into Hotohori's golden sensuous eyes.

Hotohori's eyes widened in surprise at Sakura's straight forward response. Then he smiled warmly at her, looking deep into her violet eyes. When he smiled at her she blushed and looked down at her lap, her hair like usual hiding her face.

"You know Sakura," Hotohori said gently, "You don't have to hide from me," and gently reached out and put her hair behind her ear. He leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, "I like seeing your beautiful face."

Sakura sucked in her breath and blushed scarlet. She tried to hide her face again by turning her head but he caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger gently. He gently turned her head so he was looking directly at her face. She started trembling and her violet eyes were fearful.

"Sakura, I mean it, don't be afraid of me. I'm being gentle aren't I?"

Sakura nodded slightly.

"And I mean what I say; don't hide from me. Sakura you're a beautiful girl and you should never let anyone tell you or make you think otherwise. And what ever your mother or anyone from that house told you don't listen, believe or remember what they told you; whatever they said they were lying."

Sakura looked at him her large violet eyes unblinking.

"Do you believe me?" Hotohori asked gently.

Sakura's face never changed and her eyes never blinked. Hotohori his hand and sighed, then said, "I wish you would believe me." He looked away unable to look at Sakura's face anymore. An awkward silence once again descended down upon them; it was smothering and unconformable for both Sakura and Hotohori. They were looking away from each other, Sakura looking down at her lap, her hair creating a dark curtain that she could hide her face behind. And Hotohori look at the bunk beds, his heart heavy because of the pain he knew Sakura was in.

They sat this way until they heard the bus door open and slam close. Then they heard Megumi squeal, "Nuriko!" and they heard footsteps and running; then Nuriko saying, "Megumi I'm happy to see you too, but you don't have to jump on me." Her happy voice answered, "Of course I do." Nuriko must have rolled his eyes because there was a smack and Nuriko said, "Ow! Megumi you don't have to hit me!"

"Yes I do! If you don't want my affection then I'll go be with Hotohori and Sakura," she said loudly.

"Megumi," he chuckled, "You know that's not true. You know that if I could I would keep you all to myself."

"How would I know that when you act like you could care less at times?"

"Shall I show you affection then? Show you how I feel about you?"

Sakura and Hotohori heard nothing, then some soft whispering and then panting. When Nuriko and Megumi walked in the bedroom they were both still breathing hard and both Nuriko and Megumi's lips were red and swollen. Nuriko had a smug look on his face and looked very proud of himself. Megumi was tugging on her shirt and she was blushing.

"Where is Miss. Emika?" Hotohori asked.

"She told me to go back to the bus after I knocked those jerks out. She said she was going to clean up work. I offered to help her but she said to get back to the bus. So I left. There was nothing really to clean up, so I wonder what she is doing," Nuriko said.

"We really don't think it matters to the students what she is doing there now. We have Sakura now, and she is safe, that's all that really matters to us. But then again, we do think the students should know what the school does and should know how they get their information. It's probably better off that we don't know, but still part of us thinks that we as students should know," Hotohori said thoughtfully.

"You just completely contradicted yourself," Nuriko said.

"We know that," Hotohori snapped at Nuriko.

Nuriko opened his mouth to retaliate but Megumi who was standing next to him, elbowed him in the ribs. He looked at her and then started to say, "What the h…," but then he saw Megumi was looking at Sakura who was curled up on the couch with Hotohori trying to comfort her, without getting too close.

"Sakura we are sorry," Hotohori whispered gently kneeling down in front of her, "We won't yell or use sharp words anymore. No more fighting, we promise. You are safe here. We want you to feel comfortable and safe. There is no need to curl yourself up."

Sakura peeked over her knees at him. He smiled at her gently and she stared back at him with her large purple eyes. He chuckled, and said, "You know you don't have to be so shy. None of us are going to hurt you," he nodded towards Megumi. "You know her; she's your best friends. Are we right?" He paused and Sakura nodded. Then he nodded towards Nuriko. "You met him in the garden at the same time you met us. He's my best friend and Megumi's boyfriend. He won't hurt you. We are all friends here and won't hurt each other."

Sakura nodded and put her chin on her knees, but like always her bangs were covering her left eye. They heard the door open and a person walk up the steps and through the kitchen. Hotohori knew it was Miss. Emika but Sakura looked scared and apprehensive, her muscles became tense and ready to shield herself. Fear built up inside her eyes and she started shivering. Sakura watched the door with unblinking eyes. Hotohori, who was still kneeling in front of her, took her face in his hands gently but firmly.

"Sakura, look at us," he said gently. Her eyes didn't move. "Look at us Sakura," he said firmly. When she looked at him he locked her eyes to his. "Sakura. That is not your mother in the other room. It is Miss. Emika. We know its Miss. Emika The driver would never let a strange woman in the bus. Stop your worries ok?" he said then brushed his thumbs on her cheeks. She nodded. He smiled encouragingly at her and she looked around with her eyes nervously and then showed him a quick small smile. "Good," he said and dropped his and stood up. Sakura took a deep breath and unwrapped her arms from her knees and uncurled herself by putting her feet back on the floor.

A few moments later Miss. Emika walked through the door. She smiled warmly at Sakura when she saw her sitting on the couch, and Hotohori dropped back and stood with Nuriko and Megumi.

"Glad to have you with us Sakura. And I'm sorry that everything went wrong the other day. I never wanted that to happen. And I'm sorry that we couldn't come get you sooner. Tonight was our first chance, but you're safe now," Miss. Emika said to Sakura who didn't react to her words at all.

Miss. Emika studied Sakura then walked over to the three students and asked them quietly, "Who has had the best results with her?" The three students glanced at each other. When neither Megumi nor Hotohori spoke Nuriko said, "I haven't. But it's between Megumi and Hotohori."

"Megumi was the best with her. She knew exactly what to say," Hotohori said quietly.

"No way, Hotohori you're much better with her. She trusts you," Megumi countered.

'_No one wants me_,' Sakura thought as she heard them argue quietly, '_I don't want to believe it but no one wants to look after me. That's okay; it'll be easier for me to disappear this way. But I really thought they liked me here, but apparently not. I'm not really surprised; it's happened my whole life_.'

Miss. Emika looked at the two teenagers and then said, "You two decide who's going to care for her while we are here on the bus. I'll be in the kitchen, let me know either way." She looked at the teenagers again and walked out of the room.

"You're her best friend Megumi," Hotohori said, "You got her to drink the glass of water. We couldn't do anything. That's why she would be better with you."

"Look Hotohori," Megumi said, "Sakura is my best friend, and she's in pain. But you know what makes her happier than anything?"

Hotohori shook his head.

"You do! She loves being with you. And do you know why she drank the water?"

Hotohori shook his head again.

"For you. She didn't want to cause you pain. Even if you don't realize it you are her savior. And you do have the strongest connection with her! You knew Hotohori, you knew. I didn't, but you did! You are also the one that found her and brought her out of that closet then out of the house. She cares about you so much, and you care about her. One of these days I hope you two realize that you would be lost without on another. But hey, I'll care for her; strengthen our friendship, while yours weakens."

Megumi glared at Hotohori, hoping her point had sunken in, Hotohori stared at her disbelievingly. He opened his mouth, and then closed it. Megumi was getting frustrated. She looked down at rubbed her forehead, then she looked up at him and said, "Maybe you don't love her as much as I thought you did."

Hotohori's jaw dropped and said, "How dare you say that! How dare you impugn my love for her! You know I love her more than anything. You know how lost I was without her. You know that these last few days have been the most painful in my life because I wasn't with her, and I knew she was in pain. You saw me in more pain than I have ever had in my whole life. At times it felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest. She means the world to me! I can't believe you would say something like that Megumi."

"Then prove your words to Sakura with your actions. I know, Nuriko knows, but the person that should know doesn't. You must act like you love her if you don't want to loose her."

Hotohori stared at Megumi then looked over at Sakura who was still curled up on the couch and had covered her ears. Hotohori's eyes instantly became gentle and his heart went out to her. Megumi smiled at Hotohori then Sakura, and then said softly to Hotohori, "Go to her Hotohori. And I leave her in your care." Then she walked over to Sakura and placed a hand on Sakura's head. Sakura looked up at Megumi who then bent down and was whispering to her. Then Megumi walked over to the doorway, turned then smiled at them both, then walked out and closed the door behind her.

Sakura started shivering and Hotohori immediately became concerned. He grabbed a blanket from the foot of his bed and wrapped it around her. He then picked her up and sat down on the couch and put her in his lap. He rewrapped the blanket more securely around her and held her. She stiffened at first and stayed rigid, but after a few minutes she slowly started to relax. Eventually she shyly put her head on his shoulder and leaned into his embrace. Hotohori smiled as he felt her tense body finally relax against his and become comfortable with the situation. In response to Sakura relaxing against him he wrapped his arms a little tighter around her tiny frame, but never tight enough to hurt her, and now he never wanted to let go. He was more comfortable then he had ever been in his whole life. Everything felt right, Sakura in his lap, his arms around her, her head on his shoulders. He was honored that she trusted him enough to be this close to her and hold her. He swore to himself that he would never do anything that would break that trust.

"Are you comfortable Sakura?" he whispered in to her ear softly.

Hotohori's hot breath tickled Sakura's ear, and she smiled and buried her face into his neck. Sakura blushed and nodded and gently said, "Mmhmm," very softly.

As soon as Sakura's gentle breath touched the sensitive skin of Hotohori's neck, he stiffened and sucked in a breath of fresh air. He immediately tried to get himself under control because it took every bit of self control he possessed not to take possession of her sweet innocent lips with his. He took a deep breath and said, "That's good. I'm glad." He rewrapped his arms around her and leaned his head on hers. He closed his eyes and concentrated on making deep even breaths to get his body under control. Once he was in control of his body again he whispered, "Shall we get you cleaned up? We have a shower in the bathroom. You can take a rinse yourself off and change your clothes. You must be very uncomfortable in those clothes. Sound good?"

"That might be nice," Sakura said softly.

"Alright then," Hotohori said, and then stood up and carried Sakura into the bathroom. He put her gently back on her feet and said, "Be right back," and walked out of the bathroom. Sakura looked around at her surroundings. The floor was white linoleum, the walls were plain white wall paper, and the sink and toilet were white plastic. The shower was small and had a cheep plastic door and plastic walls. There were four hooks on the back of the door with a white towel and wash cloth on each.

A few minutes later Hotohori returned with Sakura's kit in one hand and a first aid kit in the other. He smiled at her and said, "Take your shower first, then I can clean and wrap you cuts." Sakura nodded. Hotohori showed her how to work the shower, pointed out her towels to her, and left her to take a shower in peace.

She stood in the middle of the clean room in her dirty and stained cloths unsure of what to do first. She decided to get herself ready for the shower. She took out her shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body wash, shaving cream, and razor out of her kit and put in on the shower floor. She still felt uncomfortable with the bathroom being so clean and herself feeling so dirty, but she slowly began to undress. She had lost her shoes before her mother locked her in the …, she peeled off her socks and dropped them in a corner. Then she slipped off the jacket and dropped it on top of the socks. While she was getting undressed she realized that she didn't have a tie; in fact she had no idea where that could have lost it. She dreaded to see what was under her filthy clothes, but she unbuttoned her shirt, slid it from her shoulders, and dropped it on the other clothes. She was cold standing in the middle of the bathroom so she quickly slipped off her bra and underwear and turned on the hot water and stepped into the shower.

She let the hot water stream down her body and it relaxed her tight and tired muscles, and she closed her eyes in bliss. She opened her eyes and looked down and saw the dirt and blood being washed off and run down the drain. It left her skin looking pale and pure once again. '_I love feeling clean again_,' Sakura thought. She picked up the shampoo and squeezed some into the palm of her hand and gently massaged it into her scalp, and when she had worked it into a thick lather she rinsed her hair. Next she massaged conditioner in her hair and scalp and made sure that it was on every inch of her long dark hair. She left the conditioner sit in her hair as she reached for her shaving cream and razor. She took her time as she shaved her legs, so she wouldn't cut herself or miss any spots. When she was finished she ran her hands over her legs to make sure she hadn't missed any spots and was glad she had smooth legs again. Then gently she brought the razor to her underarms. Then she picked up her wash cloth and squeezed body wash on it. Sakura lathered the soap and rubbed the soapy washcloth over her wet skin as she tried her hardest to get rid of the unseen dirt and dirty feeling she hated so much. She scrubbed every inch of her skin until it felt raw. But still, after she felt like she had been scrubbing her body forever but she still felt just as dirty as she did when he first had touched her. '_Dammit_,' she thought, '_How can I still feel dirty, it feels like I've been scrubbing for forever, but still, I can feel him touching me, squeezing me, pinching me._' Sakura shuddered. '_Who can purify me from his touch? I feel disgusting. Who can make me forget the horrors of that house?_' A picture of Hotohori flashed into her mind. He smiled gently at her and reached out his hand to her. '_If I take his hand_,' she wondered, '_would he save me? Or would he drag me down into this hell even more?_' She thought of his gentle eyes and hands. The way he saved her, held her, and took care of her. He was always so gentle and kind. He protected her and tried to make her feel better. She thought of that day in the cafeteria and what he had said. He loved her. '_He calms the chaos in my soul. I forget the horrors of that house when I'm with him. I'm almost happy with him. If I stay with him the chaos will recede and eventually disappear. I think I love him too. But I don't know, and I won't tell him until I'm sure. But either way I would do anything for him. That's why I drank the water. That's why I chose to stay alive._' She smiled softly, '_He would save me. He would nullify the chaos. I can forget and make a new life for myself, and he can help me. I will take his hand and stay by his side._'

Finally feeling somewhat better she shut off the water and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. She peeked out the door to see if anyone was in the room and if the bedroom door was closed. The room was empty and the door was closed so she padded softly over to the bed with her suitcases on it and zipped one open.

While Sakura was looking for a clean pair of underwear and bra when the door opened, she looked up and found Hotohori in the doorway looking at her. She blushed and clutched the towel to her. When he saw her his eyes widened in shock and he blushed.

"I was just coming to get you. I'm sorry, I should have knocked," he said the blush not leaving his face and he began to back out of the room.

"Oh no, I was just leaving. You can stay," Sakura said, and then thought, '_I will trust him. I am trusting him. I'll be fine, he won't hurt me. He can be trusted._'

He looked at Sakura and said, "Are you sure? We don't have to stay."

"Yes, stay. I'll be fine." She took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to trust you. I know you won't do anything that would hurt me. So I decided to trust you, or at least try to."

"Sakura," he said softly, then closed the door and started walking towards her, "You don't have to, I mean, I want you to, but don't force yourself," he paused and reached out to her cheek. She looked unsure but didn't flinch; his fingers gently touched her cheek. Then he flattened his palm out against her cheek and his thumb caressed her soft cheek then ran his fingers down her cheek to her chin and lifted her face so he could look into her eyes and lowered his face to down to hers so their lips were millimeters apart, and said, "Take your time trusting me, I want you to trust me when you are ready and not a minute sooner. Then when you are ready I will be able to love you with fewer restrictions. Because Sakura, I love you, I love you more than anyone ever before. And I want to show you how much I love you, which is why I will not claim this kiss. I will respect you and your limits." He then brushed his lips on her forehead and let his hand drop. Then he brought her free hand to his lips and softly kissed it. His lips lingered there for a few seconds as she lost her self in his amber eyes that stared into hers. After a few seconds pass he let his hand drop.

"Now," he said, "Go put on your bra and underwear so we can treat your wounds. We will wait here."

Sakura scampered into the bathroom and closed the door. Once on the other side of the door she sucked in a deep breath of air, for he had left her breathless. The way his breath felt on her lips and the way she had almost tasted him left her dazed in a way she had never been before. That tiny taste of him left her mouth watering and wanting more, wanting a longer deeper taste. And he smelled so good! Being so close to him like that had opened her senses and now everything about him had seeped into her senses, her memory. His golden eyes had burned themselves into her memory, and although he was not touching her cheek anymore she still remembered his gentle touch perfectly. His masculine scent still inhabited her sense of smell; it was almost sweet and smelled almost like ginger.

She was taking big shaky breaths trying to calm herself but it wasn't exactly working. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't erase the sensations and memories from her mind. She tried thinking about anything but him, the school, her old school, her new friends, that hell house, even, but nothing worked. He couldn't be subdued. She gave up on trying clearing her mind and slipped on underwear and a bra. She unwrapped her hair from the towel and sat on the toilet and squeezed as much water as she could out of her hair, tying to dry it.

'_What's wrong with me today?_' She asked herself, '_I need to snap out of it. Men are bad, they will hurt me._'

'_What are you doing!_' a voice in the back of her head screamed at her, '_Stop lying to yourself! You know Hotohori wouldn't dream of ever hurting you. And furthermore he wouldn't let anyone else hurt you either._'

'_Where were you when I needed help?_' Sakura asked the voice bitterly.

A playful laughter resounded through Sakura's head. '_Sakura, you know me. I need to be free. I couldn't stand that house. You knew what you had to do to get out, but you didn't. I'm here now though. But anyway, that's beside the point. TRUST HIM Sakura. He won't disappoint you. But you still push away. Do you know why you push him away?_' Sakura mentally shook her head. '_You are afraid. Afraid to love and have someone love you back. The idea frightens you to death. But deep down you crave for love. And deep down you know you love him and you know he loves you back. So you are frightened; afraid to open your heart and allow someone to love you. Grow up! And trust him! You want to be loved; you need to be loved, but you are afraid. If you don't open up to him then who else are you going to open up to? If you are broken again wouldn't you want him to be the one to break you?_'

'_But I'm not ready_,' Sakura thought '_It's too soon._'

'_Of course it is. You can give it all the time you want, he's not going anywhere. I was just showing you that it's ok to love and be loved. You needed to be reminded. And it's ok to be afraid of love, as long as you are not afraid to give love a try or be afraid of Hotohori and his love._'

'_Thank you. I suppose I needed to hear all of those things._'

'_Now Sakura_,' the voice said, '_You open that door and let Hotohori treat your wounds. Try not to shy from his touch, he'll be gentle. And when they give you food and drink you eat the food and drink the drinks. You hear?_'

'_Yes, I will_,' Sakura answered and took a deep breath and opened the door. Hotohori sat on the couch with the first aid kit next to him. She heard her favorite band L'ArcenCiel pumping through the speakers. Hotohori looked like he was staring at the speakers but Sakura knew he was really staring out into space with mindlessly mouthing the lyrics. She watched him and wondered what he was thinking about, for he was clearly in thought. She smiled to herself and she hated to interrupt his deep thought but she said, "This is my favorite band."

Hotohori's head snapped up and looked at Sakura. He smiled when he saw her and said, "Oh really? Ours too. We really want to go to one of their concerts, but we doubt that will happen anytime soon. What's your favorite song?"

"Oh, I really like Kasou, Forbidden Lover, Ophelia, Fate, Flower, and Haruka Kanata. I can never really choose my favorite."

"We like Kasou, Forbidden Lover, and Haruka Kanata too. And We like Caress of Venus, Blurry Eyes, Killing Me, and Snow Drop. So you don't mind if we listen to them while we treat those wounds?"

"Not at all."

"Alright. Come and sit, we have the first aid kit with us."

Sakura nodded and walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. After she sat down he looked her over and then said, "Well, where should we start?"

Sakura stared at him and shrugged.

"Hmm," he said, "Let's start at the top and go down from there. So your cut…" He looked down at the first aid kit and pulled out a white tube and squeezed whatever was in the tube onto his pointer finger. While he was rubbing that on her cut he said, "This first aid kit is unique. Everything in here was made by Mitsukake. He is a student at the school, but his power is healing, so he mixes it and then puts a bit of his healing power into almost everything, so everything heals very fast." Then he took a small band-aid and put it on her cut. "Okay, now for the bruise on your face…" he said to himself and took out a bigger white tube and squeezed some ointment onto his fingers and said, "This will help the bruising clear up faster, so we need to rub it on you face and it might hurt. But we don't want to hurt you, so do you want to do it, or would you rather we do it?"

Sakura looked down and her bangs brushed her face and hung in front of her left eye, and then she glanced up at Hotohori's kind face. She blushed and looked down again. Hotohori saw her lips move but didn't here hear anything. He smiled and asked her to speak up. In reply she said, "Will you please put it on my face?" Hotohori smiled and said, "Of course, it would be our pleasure, but you know you're going to have to look up." When she didn't look up he lifted her chin up with his thumb and forefinger. He then pushed her bangs behind her ear so a pair of large purple eyes started back at him. He smiled warmly at her and said, "That's better, I like seeing your whole face, you look much more beautiful this way." Sakura blushed and tried to hide her face again by looking down, but Hotohori was ahead of her, he already had her chin between his two fingers again. "Now Sakura," Hotohori said, "Do you remember what I told you about hiding from me?" Sakura nodded. "Then what are you doing?" Hotohori asked. Sakura looked down with her eyes, trying to avoid his intense golden gaze. "Sakura, I'm going to compliment you. I'm going to praise you. I'm going to love you the way you deserve to be loved. So please, get used to it."

Sakura looked up at him surprised; she looked into his deep amber eyes and felt at peace. She allowed the barrier to drop in her eyes and when he saw that he smiled warmly, and took her hands into his and squeezed them gently while he whispered, "Thank you Sakura. Thank you." She smiled back at him, her eyes happier than he had seen them since she had returned to him. But they quickly changed to sad as she said, "I'm sorry if I'm causing you any trouble. And I'm sorry I was hiding from you. I was just embarrassed and…" she paused. Hotohori watched her patiently until she said, "I dunno I just…get embarrassed easily, I guess."

"Don't apologize for something that's not your fault. And you're not causing me any trouble, I'm glad to help you."

"Thank you, Hotohori."

"Anytime," Hotohori said and smiled warmly at her, and after a few seconds he added, "Shall I get back to treating these cuts and bruises?"

Sakura nodded, and started at him to see what he was going to do next.

"Now which shoulder did you say hurt?" he asked.

"My left one," she replied.

"Hmm," he said while he started at it, "Well, there's not bruising so I can't do much for it. Can you move it?"

Sakura tried and Hotohori barely saw her arm move, and Sakura's face was full of pain.

"Can you move your shoulder?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Okay, well I'm not a medical expert but let's put your left arm in a sling after I finish with everything. I'm not sure what it will do, but at least you won't have to support you arm anymore."

Sakura nodded.

"And let's wrap that arm too," he said while putting some bruise ointment on her arm, followed by him dabbing the cut ointment on the little cuts from her mother's nails. Then he took some white bandages from the first aid kit and wrapped that around her bruises, and cuts. "You said your right wrist hurt?" Hotohori asked, and Sakura nodded. "Can you move that?" he asked again.

"Not really. It hurts less than my shoulder though."

"Alright, I think it's only sprained so let me find a brace for that," Hotohori said and got up off the couch. He went into the kitchen, and in a few minutes returned with a brace and sat down again. First he rubbed the bruise cream on both her wrists and then put the brace on her right wrist. He then glanced at the bruises on her chest and said to her, "I won't touch them, after we are done, I'll give you the cream and you can do that." Sakura nodded. Hotohori studied her stomach and her ribs. Almost her whole stomach was covered in a large bruise, and her sides were covered in small ones.

"You said your ribs hurt?"

Sakura nodded.

"Where do they hurt; your upper or lower ribs?"

"Umm, lower middle? Around there," Sakura said and touched the part of her rib cage that was just underneath her breasts and to the side.

"Okay, I'm going to put cream on your ribs and stomach, and wrap your ribs," Hotohori said as he started to put more cream on his hand. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Lift your arms please." Sakura lifted her arms and Hotohori started to rub the cream on her sides and stomach. When he finished, he got out a while roll of bandages and be gently began to wrap her ribs, while he said, "Tell me if I wrap too tightly or too loosely." Sakura nodded in response but said nothing.

He finished wrapping her ribs and looked for any other dark bruises that marred her perfect skin. He found two more, one on her right thigh and another on her right shin. He massaged the cream gently on her bruises then smiled at her and said, "Let me go find you a sling for your shoulder, I have a feeling that you have a hairline fracture. I'll send Megumi into help you with the rest of those bruises and help you with the sling. But I'll be back so we can talk if you want. Alright?"

Sakura nodded in response to Hotohori. He smiled at her and walked into the kitchen. A few moments later Megumi walked in with a smile on her face but as soon as Megumi saw her friend the smile faded. Megumi's hand came up to her mouth and whispered, "Oh Sakura." Sakura stood up and Megumi walked over to Sakura and hugged her. "I didn't know that they were this bad, oh god Sakura. I'm so sorry we didn't come get you sooner." Megumi released Sakura from the hug. Megumi's eyes flashed as she asked "What did they do to you?"

"I'm fine Megumi."

"You call this fine! You are not fine!"

Sakura blushed and said softly, "I'll be ok. I'm ok now." Megumi eyed her purple eyed friend and smiled.

"He's helping then?"

Sakura gave her friend a small smile and nodded.

"Good. Now, down to business or Hotohori will kill me. What do I need to help you with? He kept mumbling about not touching you in certain places; and that you needed help removing certain pieces of clothing then something about getting dressed."

Sakura nodded.

"I guess he's really worried about that shoulder of yours," Megumi commented dryly, "Come on, let's go to the bathroom."

* * *

After Hotohori found the sling he sat down at the kitchen table with his friend. 

"How is Sakura?" Nuriko asked.

"She is better than one would expect with everything that's happened to her. She is strong, stronger than she will ever realize. But we still worry because she was beaten up very badly." Hotohori's golden eyes flashed with anger while he said, "No one should ever have to suffer like that, but especially not her. How dare they treat her like that! They need to be shown what it's like to be treated like that. They should know her suffering! And we want to show them so badly, we want to beat them and then lock them in a closet and tortured slowly until they go mad."

"Hotohori, you have to stay here for Sakura. Concentrate on her, not on revenge. When Megumi finishes, Sakura will need you again. And didn't you promise to be there for her when Megumi finishes?"

"Yes, and we will be there for her. It just upsets us that when she needed us most we couldn't help or protect her. We promised her we would, but we broke that promise! We failed her!

Nuriko shook his head, and smiled knowingly at his friend. "No you didn't. You might feel like you did because she still got hurt. But you felt her pain; you knew she was in trouble. And you're the one found her and brought her out into the world again. You saved her. You kept your word. And even though you might want to, you can't save her from everything. Eventually she has to learn how to fight back and save herself."

"But-"

"No way, stop. You're doing fine. You're being the perfect gentleman. You treat her with the respect she deserves, give her the space she needs, and you still manage to give her love that she needs. Don't change that and you'll keep doing fine. And don't you dare second guess yourself," Nuriko said encouragingly, but it was obvious that Hotohori's thought were on other things. The two friends sat in silence each lost in their own thoughts until Megumi walked in to get Hotohori.

Hotohori stood up as soon as Megumi walked into the room anxious to return to Sakura. He looked Megumi straight in the eye almost as if he were asking permission to go into the bedroom to see Sakura. She nodded and said, "She'll be fine Hotohori. Stop your worrying. Go on, get in there!" He smiled at her and left Megumi and Nuriko to go be with Sakura.

* * *

Sakura stood in the middle of the bedroom with a loose pair of jeans on and a black short sleeve shirt that clung to her small frame. She smiled at him shyly and he smiled back at her and asked, "Everything feeling better?" 

She nodded and said softly, "Yes, thank you for all your help."

"You're welcome Sakura, any time."

Hotohori sat down on the couch and said, "Megumi and Nuriko are going to make dinner tonight. Come and relax." Sakura hesitated, then went and sat down next to him.

"We are so glad you are feeling better. We are so worried about you, we all are. You have so many bruises; and then your shoulder, wrist, and ribs. You have us all so worried."

"Don't waste your worry on me."

Hotohori chuckled but then became serious and said, "Sakura, I care about you. We all care about you. I will worry about you. Besides, we are your friends. What good would we be if we didn't worry about you?"

Sakura stared at him, her eyes big with bewilderment. He laughed and said, "Don't worry about it Sakura. All you need to worry about is getting better and taking care of yourself. Besides when we get back to school Mitsukake will fully heal you. You'll feel as good as new!"

"No Hotohori, I can never feel as good as new. I'm not clean, or new or untouched or pure anymore. He touched me with his dirty hands. I'm as good as defiled now. No one will want me."

Hotohori put his arm around Sakura and pulled her close. "Sakura, that's not true. I cannot change the way you feel, although I'm doing everything in my power to change the way you feel. You may feel dirty, but you are not. You are pure and untouched, no matter what that man did to you. And you say that no one will want you? That is far from the truth. I'm right here; I'm someone who wants you. Here, the past doesn't matter. The school is its own separate world, and the outside rules don't apply. Besides, everyone is accepting of pasts. We all have our own horrors and pasts. No one can condemn you for something that isn't your fault. All of your friends want you, they all accept you. Don't worry; you'll fit in just fine. No one will judge you based on what happened before you came to school. We all are accepting and forgiving. I know you'll be fine. And I'll be with you. I'll help you through your troubles."

Sakura nodded understanding the words Hotohori had spoken to her. "Thank you Hotohori," she whispered and curled up on the couch and leaned into him. She put her head on his shoulder, sighed contentedly and closed her eyes.

"Let me know when you need to talk, but for now relax, and go to sleep if you need it," he whispered into her ear.

Sakura nodded with here eyes still closed and Hotohori wrapped his arm around her tighter and put his head on top of hers. Comforted by each others presence they fell into a deep rejuvenating sleep that neither of them have had in the few days that they were parted from each other.

* * *

**A/n-**See that ending isn't so bad, it's a nice not cliffy. But I think that I'll be concentrating on the other characters. Showing their backgrounds and such. For now I have Megumi's and Danieru's planned out. Hmmm, let's see what else. Ahh yes, as soon as I get my Rurouni Kenshin fic posted read it! It's going to be awesome! It's a BattousaiOC fic, AU. But it'll be really good. It's called Overrated Nightmare, so keep your eyes peeled for it. And let's see, for a profile...you have Sakura's, Aya's, Rika's, and Megumi's. Sooooo here is...Danieru's! 

**Name:** Danieru

**Age:** 16

**Height:** 5 feet, 6 inches

**Eyes: **light green outlined with dark green

**Hair:** straight black down to shoulder blades with a part slightly to the side with no bangs

**Complexion:** fair

**Personality:** sensitive, creative, friendly, sympathetic, strong willed, stubborn, and protective

**Abilities:** wind

That's all for now! And you see that purple review button down there? Click it so I feel loved! And so I know that people are enjoying my work, that is if they are. And if you see anything wrong with my writing I'm also glad to receive constuctive critism. That's also very nice to have.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer-**I do not own Fushigi Yugi.

**A/n-**I'm sorry this took so long to update. I would have liked to get more chapters out this summer, but I was incredibly busy looking at colleges and working on my new fic. To top that I have had writer's block for this story up until today when threw out the first attempts at Chapter Ten and started again. Once again, I apolgize for the long wait. With that, I am now a senoir this year, so with two Ap classes (hopefully), homework, karate, college stuff, and work I don't know how soon the next update will be. Regrettfully fanfiction isn't the only thing in my life. I will write as much as I can, and hope to have the time to update sooner than later. I do not intend to let this story die, I have come so far and have gotten so much support from my dear readers, which I appreciate more than you can imagine. Thank you so much for everything, and I hope that you will continue to support me through my writing. Have a good school year, and if you guys aren't in school anymore, have a good year!

(the line does not seem to be working so INSERT LINE HERE!)

**Chapter Ten**

When the dark haired woman felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket, she excused herself to go to a more private setting to answer the call. Once she was sure no one would hear the conversation between herself and her Lord, she answered her phone.

"Yes my lord," she said, her voice laced with fealty, "What can I do for you?"

"Hn, always ready to serve me I see," her Master replied.

"Of course my Lord," she said, "Always and forever."

"Very good my dear, so very nice to know that I'll always have your loyalty; but the reason I called was about the rescue of a certain student, and the bond that four students might be creating."

"The rescue went well my Lord. And the four students in question are becoming friends, faster than you imagined."

The malicious chuckle that reached the woman's ears made her shudder, then he spoke once more, "Hotohori and, what did you say her name was?"

"Sakura, my Lord."

"Thank you. Hotohori and Sakura, what's happening between them?"

"Well my Lord, it seems as though they are falling in love. Hotohori was the one to find her during the rescue, and has been caring for her ever since. He seems fiercely protective over the girl; in fact, he almost drew his sword on Yusuke the other day."

"Yes…," he said thoughtfully, "So I heard. And Sakura?"

"She has only left his side once or twice. She is afraid of him, you can see that plainly, but she still let him treat her wounds and hold her. In fact they fell asleep in each others arms. She trusts him."

"Very good. And Nuriko and Megumi? How are they?"

"They are now dating, my Lord. Megumi is also good friends with Sakura, as well. But Nuriko and Megumi appear to be getting closer and closer as the days pass by."

"Very good. Everything is going according to plan. And the balance of the students?"

"Nothing yet, my Lord. Everyone was so preoccupied with Sakura's rescue. I apologize for my incompetence my Lord."

The line was silent as the faithful servant could feel her Master's fury through the phone. She inaudibly gulped, she was nervous; she remembered what he did to the last servant who failed him.

"You know I'm not a forgiving person," he said slowly, choosing is words carefully, letting his wrath sink in, "And that I don't take failure well."

"Yes my Lord. I do know that; and there is no excuse for my incompetence."

"How very right you are. But I am pleased with the plan working faster than I thought possible. So for that reason alone I will spare you for now. But I will not tolerate another failure. You know the way I punish failures, and your punishment will be worse than the last."

The woman shuddered with his promise.

"I am grateful for you mercy, my Lord. I shall not fail you again."

"Good. Finish with the four, and you will be contacted again with your next set of instructions soon. FIX THE BALANCE! The plan is useless unless there is more balance."

"Yes my Lord, I understand."

"Good, no more failures from you; I hope you understand that for your sake," he said and the line went dead with a click.

(INSERT ANOTEHR LINE HERE)

**A/n-**I know I said I would be writing about Danieru or Megumi, but I couldn't write about them for some reason, and then I thought that we haven't heard from the lovely villians in a couple of chapters, so here we are. Now, who do you think that the Lord is? Who do you think is his ever so faithful servant? Hmmmm, I would love to know what you guys are thinking! And if you see any mistakes, please feel free to tell me, I think I need a new beta, my other one seems to be really busy, and I haven't heard from her all summer almost. So if any one is interested, please let me know.

By the way, see that purple button, the one in the left corner. That's the review button...CLICK AWAY! And leave me some love, pretty please?


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